{ "jurisdiction_id": "EEA", "jurisdiction": "European Economic Area", "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/", "generator": "render_jid v13.3.0", "date_modified": "2026-08-11", "schema_version": "world-payments-v1", "counts": { "modules": 14, "sourced_findings": 61, "source_register": 120 }, "modules": [ { "code": "W1a", "name": "Licensing, Authorisation & Market Access", "confidence": "High", "moved_this_cycle": true, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w1a-licensing-authorisation-market-access", "standing_position": "EEA harmonised non-bank PSP licensing under PSD2/EMD2 (PI and EMI routes) plus bank-PSP route, home-state NCA single licence passportable EEA-wide. PSD3/PSR reached provisional political agreement 27 Nov 2025 to merge PI and EMI regimes into a unified 'payment institution authorised to issue e-money'; OJ publication expected H1 2026, implementation likely H2 2027-early 2028.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "directive", "source": "crassula.io PI licence guide", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "statute", "source": "BaFin (DE NCA, Tier-1 for EEA bloc)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "statute", "source": "ACPR (Banque de France) — PI/EMI authorisation", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "directive", "source": "Morrison Foerster / Norton Rose Fulbright", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "directive", "source": "openbankingtracker / Crassula PSD3 guide", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W1b", "name": "Conduct, Safeguarding & Financial Promotions", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w1b-conduct-safeguarding-financial-promotions", "standing_position": "Conduct, safeguarding and consumer-facing rules across the EEA derive from PSD2's conduct provisions (transposed nationally) and will shift to the directly-applicable Payment Services Regulation (PSR) once adopted. Safeguarding of user funds is achieved by segregation in a separate account or insurance/guarantee cover; the IPR additionally created an option for non-bank PSPs to safeguard funds at a central bank, at NCB discretion. The November 2025 PSR political agreement materially expands conduct obligations — strong customer authentication, fraud liability, refund rights and mandatory IBAN/name verification.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "openbankingtracker / Crassula PSD3-PSR", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "ECB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "statute", "source": "BaFin (DE NCA, Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "EBA/ECB joint 2025 payment fraud report (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W2", "name": "Stablecoins & Digital Money", "confidence": "High", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w2-stablecoins-digital-money", "standing_position": "MiCA governs EEA stablecoins (EMT single-currency / ART basket). Transitional regimes run to 1 July 2026. EBA No-Action Letter transition ends 2 March 2026; the Opinion of 12 Feb 2026 clarifies (does not narrow) post-transition supervisory expectations for CASPs with pending PSD2 applications. Significant tokens supervised EBA-coordinated.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "ESMA (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "EBA (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "eco.com MiCA stablecoin list", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "eco.com / CSSF-supervised", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "EBA Opinion of 12 February 2026 (end of NAL transition)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W3", "name": "Operational Resilience & Critical Infrastructure", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w3-operational-resilience-critical-infrastructure", "standing_position": "The EEA operational-resilience regime for payments is the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2554), which entered into force 16 January 2023 and applied in full from 17 January 2025 with no transition period. DORA covers ICT risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing and ICT third-party/critical-third-party oversight, and applies to PIs, EMIs and CASPs among ~21 financial-entity types. The ESAs oversee critical ICT third-party providers (CTPPs); first Registers of Information were collected in 2025-2026.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "ESMA (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "EIOPA (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "digital-operational-resilience-act.com (ESA framework summary)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "CybelAngel / DLA Piper", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W4", "name": "Scheme & Network Compliance", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w4-scheme-network-compliance", "standing_position": "EEA card-scheme economics are governed by the Interchange Fee Regulation ((EU) 2015/751), capping consumer debit/credit interchange (0.2%/0.3%) while excluding commercial cards. PCI DSS (administered by the PCI SSC) is contractually mandated by Visa/Mastercard for all merchants, with v4.0 future-dated requirements taking effect from 31 March 2025. Surcharging of regulated cards is restricted under PSD2. Visa and Mastercard dominate the four-party scheme layer, with combined European volume growing strongly in 2025.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "EUR-Lex Regulation (EU) 2015/751 (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "scheme_rule", "source": "DIMOCO (citing IFR)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "scheme_rule", "source": "PCI SSC / vendor summaries", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "scheme_rule", "source": "Business of Payments (Visa/Mastercard public data)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "2", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W5", "name": "Payment Corridor Dynamics", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w5-payment-corridor-dynamics", "standing_position": "Intra-EEA euro corridors run over SEPA (SCT, SCT Inst) operated via EBA CLEARING (RT1/STEP2) and the Eurosystem's TIPS; cross-border/cross-currency reach is extended by TIPS' multi-currency capability and the EPC One-Leg-Out (OCT Inst) scheme, plus SWIFT for global correspondent flows. The Instant Payments Regulation amended the SEPA Regulation to mandate 10-second euro instant transfers and verification of payee. Work aligns with G20 cross-border targets, where global KPIs show only slight improvement against the 2027 timetable.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "ECB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "ECB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "SWIFT (Tier-1 via member channel)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "2", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "FSB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W6", "name": "Industry Structure & Commercial Dynamics", "confidence": "High", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w6-industry-structure-commercial-dynamics", "standing_position": "The EEA acquiring/processing market is concentrated but contested: legacy processors Worldline and Nexi compete with direct-connection 'gateway acquirers' Adyen and Stripe, plus US entrants (Fiserv, Global Payments, Worldpay) and the SMB 'Tap Pack' (SumUp, Viva.com, myPOS, Flatpay). The top five processors command roughly 55% of market value. Sixteen European banks launched the Wero/EPI account-to-account wallet to reclaim sovereign control of P2P and merchant rails.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Mordor Intelligence Europe Payments", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Business of Payments", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Mordor Intelligence", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Business of Payments / Flagship", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W7", "name": "Legal & Litigation", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w7-legal-litigation", "standing_position": "EEA payments enforcement is NCA-led and intensifying. European regulators issued over EUR 36m in AML fines against payments/e-money firms between March 2024 and March 2025 across ~30 enforcement actions, including licence revocations by the Bank of Lithuania (Foxpay) and Estonia's FIU (B2BX). The new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) began operations in Frankfurt in July 2025, marking the start of direct EU-level supervision of high-risk entities. The European Commission also pursues infringement penalties before the CJEU for non-transposition.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "enforcement", "source": "Finextra/Vixio; MyComplianceOffice", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "enforcement", "source": "Vixio AML Outlook", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "enforcement", "source": "ComplyAdvantage (AMLA reference)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "litigation", "source": "European Commission (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W8", "name": "Merchant Acquiring & Risk", "confidence": "High", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w8-merchant-acquiring-risk", "standing_position": "EEA merchant acquiring operates within the IFR/PCI DSS framework, with chargeback/dispute mechanics governed by Visa/Mastercard scheme rulebooks and onboarding/KYC under PSD2 and national AML law. The market is roughly half the size of the US by card volume; acceptance is shifting rapidly to 'gateway acquirers' offering integrated single-platform bundles, while incumbents consolidate acquiring platforms to control cost. SMB acquiring is contested by the low-cost 'Tap Pack'.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Popular Fintech (Nilson data)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "scheme_rule", "source": "DIMOCO (PCI/IFR)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Business of Payments (PSE Consulting)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "market_structure", "source": "Business of Payments", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W9", "name": "Product Innovation & Market Development", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w9-product-innovation-market-development", "standing_position": "EEA product development is led by instant A2A rails and a sovereign-payments agenda. The EPI's Wero wallet (operated since July 2024 across DE/FR/BE) reached 46m+ users and launched an e-commerce solution in November 2025. The ECB concluded the digital euro preparation phase on 29-30 October 2025 and moved to the next phase, targeting potential first issuance in 2029 assuming the Regulation is adopted in 2026. Open-finance access expands via the FIDA proposal (still in trilogue).", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "cbdc_project", "source": "ECB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "product", "source": "EPI / Deutsche Bank", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "Crassula PSD3/PSR guide", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "product", "source": "Société Générale / EPI", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W10", "name": "Consumer Protection & APP Fraud", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w10-consumer-protection-app-fraud", "standing_position": "EEA consumer protection rests on PSD2 (unauthorised/incorrectly executed transaction refunds) and is being expanded by the PSR. The November 2025 PSD3/PSR political agreement introduces mandatory reimbursement for impersonation ('spoofing') fraud, obliging PSPs and electronic communications providers to fully reimburse consumer victims (Article 59 PSR), plus mandatory IBAN-name verification (live via the IPR since October 2025) and online-platform liability building on the DSA. This contrasts with the UK PSR's broader Faster-Payments APP reimbursement model.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "A&O Shearman (citing Article 59 PSR)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "European Parliament (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "Moodys (citing IPR/EPC)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "regulation", "source": "Flagright / PSP Lab", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W11", "name": "AML/CFT & Financial Crime", "confidence": "Assessed", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w11-aml-cft-financial-crime", "standing_position": "[SENTINEL.GI FEED] Sentinel payments-context position for the EEA: the AML/CFT perimeter is consolidating under the EU AML package (Single Rulebook + AMLR + AMLD6) with the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) operational in Frankfurt from July 2025 assuming direct supervision of high-risk entities. The Transfer of Funds Regulation extends originator/beneficiary information ('travel rule') to PSPs and CASPs. Enforcement of payments/e-money firms is rising (EUR 36m+ in fines March 2024-March 2025). WPM carries the Sentinel position only; no original illicit-finance analysis performed (that is FIM).", "findings": [ { "finding": "EU AML architecture is mid-transition: AMLR (Reg 2024/1624) becomes the directly-applicable single rulebook from 10 July 2027, 6AMLD (Dir 2024/1640) is under national transposition, and AMLA (Reg 2024/1620) began operations mid-2025 in Frankfurt, building toward direct CASP/bank supervision from 2028. Sanctions architecture (19th/20th Russia packages) is aggressive but BO transparency was rolled back by the 2022 Sovim ruling and CASP supervision remains nationally fragmented pending AMLR application.", "instrument_type": "assessment", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) per-JID baseline profile — European Economic Area (EU bloc architecture)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": "Gap: sourcing-thinness", "instrument_type": "gap", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-004)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": "Gap: capacity-deficit", "instrument_type": "gap", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-002)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": "Enforcement: FATF (Financial Action Task Force) — Bulgaria (EU/EEA member state)", "instrument_type": "enforcement_action", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) enforcement_action_register (issue FIM-BASE-ENF-004)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": "Sanctions: EU listing", "instrument_type": "sanctions_change", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) sanctions_change_register (issue FIM-BASE-SANC-003)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": "Enforcement: Council of the European Union — All Russian- and Belarusian-established crypto-asset service providers and platforms", "instrument_type": "enforcement_action", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) enforcement_action_register (issue FIM-BASE-ENF-003)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "2", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": "Gap: legal-gap", "instrument_type": "gap", "source": "FIM (sentinel.gi) gaps_register_cumulative (issue FIM-BASE-GAP-001)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W12", "name": "Correspondent Banking, Settlement & Access", "confidence": "Confirmed", "moved_this_cycle": true, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w12-correspondent-banking-settlement-access", "standing_position": "EEA settlement runs through TARGET Services (T2/TIPS/T2S/ECMS). Following SFD amendments via the IPR, authorised non-bank PSPs (PIs/EMIs) gained direct T2/TIPS access from 6 Oct 2025 under Guideline ECB/2025/28. EBA CLEARING (RT1/STEP2) provides private SEPA clearing; correspondent-banking retrenchment remains a structural pressure.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "ECB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "EBA CLEARING (Tier-2) / inventi", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "2", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "infrastructure", "source": "ECB (Tier-1)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "analysis", "source": "ECB Economic Bulletin (Tier-1, citing FSB/BIS)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "1", "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "W13", "name": "Commercial Intelligence & Fintech", "confidence": "High", "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://payments.gi/jurisdictions/european-economic-area/#w13-commercial-intelligence-fintech", "standing_position": "European payments commercial activity rebounded 2025: $100m+ deal value $3.9bn H1 2025 (near double FY2024). Notable: Marqeta/TransactPay (EU EMI), Trade Republic EUR 1.2bn secondary at EUR 12.5bn, Flatpay $145m.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "commercial_event", "source": "Marqeta / FinTech Futures", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "commercial_event", "source": "techfundingnews (Artis Partners/PitchBook)", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "commercial_event", "source": "techfundingnews / PitchBook", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": "commercial_event", "source": "techfundingnews", "source_url": null, "source_tier": "3", "retrieved_at": null } ] } ] }