Under the EU’s revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2), European consumers will be able to further benefit from paying online for goods and services.

As of 13 January 2018, new rules will be in place aimed at making it cheaper, easier and safer to make electronic payments.

The PSD2 aims to modernise Europe's payment services to the benefit of both consumers and businesses, so as to keep pace with this rapidly evolving market. The new rules will prohibit surcharging, which are additional charges for payments with consumer credit or debit cards, both in shops or online, open the EU payment market to companies offering payment services, based on them gaining access to information about the payment account and introduce strict security requirements for electronic payments and for the protection of consumers' financial data.

The regulations will also enhance consumers' rights in numerous areas. These include reducing the liability for non-authorised payments and introducing an unconditional refund right for direct debits in euro.

These rules will be applicable as of tomorrow through provisions that Member States have introduced in their national laws in compliance with the EU legislation.