There are 26 different implementation guidelines for the implementation of the second Payment Service Directive (PSD2). There are so many legal terms, abbreviations, technological labels, and other specific items in these directives and documents, that regular consumers can definitely feel lost. Luckily, we’ve prepared a guide that should explain one of the key components/ingredients of PSD2, MCI or Modified Customer Interface. Here’s everything that a consumer in the EU should know about this set of guidelines.
Modified Customer Interface (MCI) – Overview
The PSD2 and PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface) directly affect the people of EU, where this directive and interface are in power. This directive allows third-party providers to create their own payment applications, offer them for sale or free of charge to the end-user, and in exchange, give those parties access to data about those users. PSD2 should reshape the world of online and mobile payments as we know it today, such as new industry players such as banks and other financial institutions, third-party providers who can access your bank account data using PSD2, all with the aim of making payment services available to European customers safer and better.
The Regulatory Technical Standard or RTS relates specifically to the PSD2 and PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface). This is a set of rules that now applies to all major banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions in the EU. It also defines how PSD2 should be implemented by them, as well as examples of technical and organizational measures that need to be taken.
The article 30 of the RTS discusses everything that is relevant to the Modified Customer Interface. For example, According to RTS article 30.1, Account servicing payment service providers (ASPSPs) may communicate securely with payment initiation service providers (PISPs) to begin a payment order from the user’s payment account and receive all information at the start of the transaction as well as any accessible information regarding the transaction’s completion. In other words, the Account Service Payment Service Provider (ASPSP) should have implemented the MCI so that payment status and execution of payment transactions may be accessed through the Payment Initiation Services Provider (PISP). Most significantly, these rules and regulations must be well-defined.
The Overall state of online finance security in the PSD2 MCI environment
The PSD2 and PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface) have been legislated in the Union since around December 2015. PSD2 aims to modernize Europe’s banking industry by making it more open, transparent, and competitive. Keyword here is transparent, which also relates to security.
PSD2 gives customers a lot of new rights, such as access to their personal accounts from anywhere in the world. PSD2 also offers new payment services, including alternative payment providers (e.g., e-wallet issuers). PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface) will make this modern banking easier for everyone since it connects different systems and all possible online accounts to one platform. So it works just like an account aggregator.
PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface) will protect consumers with several extra security measures, some of which we mentioned above. Currently, online banking security is at its all-time high, and PSD2 takes it even further. PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface) will make use of technical and organizational rules to:
- Increase security through the available technical regulations, which in turn will result in increased safety when accessing payment services online. PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface – more about it – can ensure that security is well-defined and the implemented standards are easy to follow for the developers.
- Allow customers to monitor (and in some cases, manage) their PSD2 transactions much more easily. PSD2 gives customers the right to provide PSD2 API credentials to third parties. PSD2 API will work just like Google or Facebook authentication, but for PSD2 accounts only, meaning that it only relates to money management, and finances, thus, rarely being used for something else.
PSD2 MCI (or Modified Customer Interface) ensures that PSD2 transactions are executed securely, quickly, and effectively.
