European Regulators Considering New Regs As Apple Pay Rolls Out

Regulators in Europe are considering strongly tightening regulations, particularly when it comes to identification, for mobile payments.

Just in time for the launch of the Apple iPhone 6,  a new “Payment Services Directive in the EU” and the Council of Ministers’ presidency has recommended new regulations to mandate “strong customer authentication” over a range of digital payment schemes, including “sensitive payment data to be used in a wallet.”

The new regs would require a licence to operate in the EU and a new process by which payment initiation service providers and other payment institutions could obtain regulatory authorization for operating in EU nations.

A payment institution authorized to operate in its home EU member state would be able to apply to the regulator in that country for permission to expand its service offerings into other EU countries.