As the PSD2 deadline draws closer, the single, standardised Directory developed by Open Banking Europe* (OBE) represents a reference point for ASPSPs and TPPs access to account.

OBE announced today that the number of banks using the Open Banking Exchange Directory to comply with PSD2 access-to-account requirements has grown to more than 300 financial institutions across Europe.

As of 14 September 2019, banks and other payment service providers are required to provide access-to-account (XS2A) to authorised third party providers (TPPs), even when there is no contract in place between the ASPSP and the TPP. The OBE Directory, is there to secure this process and provides a machine-readable repository of regulatory information, which is updated hourly and notifies payment service providers (PSPs) of any critical changes.

“While the European Banking Authority register is aimed at increasing transparency in the EU, the OBE Directory is a unique tool created by the industry for the industry as a key piece of operational infrastructure,” said John Broxis, Managing Director of OBE. “The next phase is to use this directory to provide transparency to TPPs.”

“When implementing new requirements, the trickiest part is balancing customer experience on one side and the highest level of security on the other side. To offer our customers the full advantages of PSD2, we needed to make sure that the nontraditional payment service providers (TPPs) involved are fully licensed and entitled to consume customer data. Thus, the cooperation with OBE provided valuable grounds for building up our own central access platform for APIs.” Ekkehard Preis, Head of Holding Banking Operations, Erste Group Bank AG.

OBE also supports its stakeholders with information on each phase of the XS2A lifecycle: registration and passporting, eIDAS certificates, API security, revocation and disputes and other PSD2-related topics.