Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC (Text with EEA relevance)

• Published date: 23 December 2015
• Official Gazette Publication: Gazzetta ufficiale dell’Unione europea, L 337, 23 dicembre 2015,Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea, L 337, 23 de diciembre de 2015,Journal officiel de l’Union européenne, L 337, 23 décembre 2015

02015L2366 — EN — 23.12.2015 — 000.005

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►B DIRECTIVE (EU) 2015/2366 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC(Text with EEA relevance) (OJ L 337 23.12.2015, p. 35)

Corrected by:

►C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 102, 23.4.2018, p. 97 (2015/2366)

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▼B

DIRECTIVE (EU) 2015/2366 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 25 November 2015

on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC

(Text with EEA relevance)

TITLE I

SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

1. This Directive establishes the rules in accordance with which Member States shall distinguish between the following categories of payment service provider:

(a)credit institutions as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1), including branches thereof within the meaning of point (17) Article 4(1) of that Regulation where such branches are located in the Union, whether the head offices of those branches are located within the Union or, in accordance with Article 47 of Directive 2013/36/EU and with national law, outside the Union;

(b)electronic money institutions within the meaning of point (1) of Article 2 of Directive 2009/110/EC, including, in accordance with Article 8 of that Directive and with national law, branches thereof, where such branches are located within the Union and their head offices are located outside the Union, in as far as the payment services provided by those branches are linked to the issuance of electronic money;

(c)post office giro institutions which are entitled under national law to provide payment services;

(d)payment institutions;

(e)the ECB and national central banks when not acting in their capacity as monetary authority or other public authorities;

(f)Member States or their regional or local authorities when not acting in their capacity as public authorities.

2. This Directive also establishes rules concerning:

(a)the transparency of conditions and information requirements for payment services; and

(b)the respective rights and obligations of payment service users and payment service providers in relation to the provision of payment services as a regular occupation or business activity.

Article 2

Scope

1. This Directive applies to payment services provided within the Union.

2. Titles III and IV apply to payment transactions in the currency of a Member State where both the payer’s payment service provider and the payee’s payment service provider are, or the sole payment service provider in the payment transaction is, located within the Union.

3. Title III, except for point (b) of Article 45(1), point (2)(e) of Article 52 and point (a) of Article 56, and Title IV, except for Articles 81 to 86, apply to payment transactions in a currency that is not the currency of a Member State where both the payer’s payment service provider and the payee’s payment service provider are, or the sole payment service provider in the payment transaction is, located within the Union, in respect to those parts of the payments transaction which are carried out in the Union.

4. Title III, except for point (b) of Article 45(1), point (2)(e) of Article 52, point (5)(g) of Article 52 and point (a) of Article 56, and Title IV, except for Article 62(2) and (4), Articles 76, 77, 81, 83(1), 89 and 92, apply to payment transactions in all currencies where only one of the payment service providers is located within the Union, in respect to those parts of the payments transaction which are carried out in the Union.

5. Member States may exempt institutions referred to in points (4) to (23) of Article 2(5) of Directive 2013/36/EU from the application of all or part of the provisions of this Directive.

Article 3

Exclusions

This Directive does not apply to the following:

(a)payment transactions made exclusively in cash directly from the payer to the payee, without any intermediary intervention;

(b)payment transactions from the payer to the payee through a commercial agent authorised via an agreement to negotiate or conclude the sale or purchase of goods or services on behalf of only the payer or only the payee;

(c)professional physical transport of banknotes and coins, including their collection, processing and delivery;

(d)payment transactions consisting of the non-professional cash collection and delivery within the framework of a non-profit or charitable activity;

(e)services where cash is provided by the payee to the payer as part of a payment transaction following an explicit request by the payment service user just before the execution of the payment transaction through a payment for the purchase of goods or services;

(f)cash-to-cash currency exchange operations where the funds are not held on a payment account;

(g)payment transactions based on any of the following documents drawn on the payment service provider with a view to placing funds at the disposal of the payee:

(i)paper cheques governed by the Geneva Convention of 19 March 1931 providing a uniform law for cheques;

(ii)paper cheques similar to those referred to in point (i) and governed by the laws of Member States which are not party to the Geneva Convention of 19 March 1931 providing a uniform law for cheques;

(iii)paper-based drafts in accordance with the Geneva Convention of 7 June 1930 providing a uniform law for bills of exchange and promissory notes;

(iv)paper-based drafts similar to those referred to in point (iii) and governed by the laws of Member States which are not party to the Geneva Convention of 7 June 1930 providing a uniform law for bills of exchange and promissory notes;

(v)paper-based vouchers;

(vi)paper-based traveller’s cheques;

(vii)paper-based postal money orders as defined by the Universal Postal Union;

(h)payment transactions carried out within a payment or securities settlement system between settlement agents, central counterparties, clearing houses and/or central banks and other participants of the system, and payment service providers, without prejudice to Article 35;

(i)payment transactions related to securities asset servicing, including dividends, income or other distributions, or redemption or sale, carried out by persons referred to in point (h) or by investment firms, credit institutions, collective investment undertakings or asset management companies providing investment services and any other entities allowed to have the custody of financial instruments;

(j)services provided by technical service providers, which support the provision of payment services, without them entering at any time into possession of the funds to be transferred, including processing and storage of data, trust and privacy protection services, data and entity authentication, information technology (IT) and communication network provision, provision and maintenance of terminals and devices used for payment services, with the exclusion of payment initiation services and account information services;

(k)services based on specific payment instruments that can be used only in a limited way, that meet one of the following conditions:

(i)instruments allowing the holder to acquire goods or services only in the premises of the issuer or within a limited network of service providers under direct commercial agreement with a professional issuer;

(ii)instruments which can be used only to acquire a very limited range of goods or services;

(iii)instruments valid only in a single Member State provided at the request of an undertaking or a public sector entity and regulated by a national or regional public authority for specific social or tax purposes to acquire specific goods or services from suppliers having a commercial agreement with the issuer;

(l)payment transactions by a provider of electronic communications networks or services provided in addition to electronic communications services for a subscriber to the network or service:

(i)for purchase of digital content and voice-based services, regardless of the device used for the purchase or consumption of the digital content and charged to the related bill; or

(ii)performed from or via an electronic device and charged to the related bill within the framework of a charitable activity or for the purchase of tickets;

provided that the value of any single payment transaction referred to in points (i) and (ii) does not exceed EUR 50 and:

—the cumulative value of payment transactions for an individual subscriber does not exceed EUR 300 per month, or

—where a subscriber pre-funds its account with the provider of the electronic communications network or service, the cumulative value of payment transactions does not exceed EUR 300 per month;

(m)payment transactions carried out between payment service providers, their agents or branches for their own account;

(n)payment transactions and related services between a parent undertaking and its subsidiary or between subsidiaries of the same parent undertaking, without any...