This thing is happening for some time now, but given the intrinsic nature of news, which thrives on spectacular and unexpected, it always went under the radar. Some EU lawmakers working on some banking regulations is falling below the "boring" level for every news outlet. But again, folks, this is happening for as long as 2009.
What is happening, exactly?
Well, there is this law (or directive, because it's coming from the EU Commission) called PSD2. Its name comes from Payment Services Directive and it's set to come in action on January 13rd 2018. That' basically in 2 days. Yes, you read that right, 2 days.
What this directive means?
Well it means banks will have to open up their APIs to third party providers. Some of them were already doing it on a case by case strategy, but form now on it will be a law requirement. That means, for instance, that you could have a unified mobile banking app for all your bank accounts, opened at 3-4 banks, and you won't even notice that. Well, maybe if you're left without funds in one of your accounts, then you can safely pick the bank which has funds in your account.
There are a few privacy questions related to this and the security requirements for this directive to be implemented in a correct way for the involved actors are rather tight. But it's a huge step towards a decentralized financial experience, a step which comes, for once, not from a technology, like the blockchain, but from regulators.
If you fancy a spiced up reading with more details about PSD2, the Revolut blog has more details. But if you're more of a Wikipedia type of guy, just head over the boring facts (that article still needs to be updated, though).
What to expect?
Well, it may not be evident in the first two days that this is happening, but there will be a lot of movement in the fintech startup area, with more and more third party payment providers coming up in the next few months. Tighter integrations of current crypto to fiat exchanges should appear too.
Also, please note that this will happen only in the SEPA space (Single Euro Payment Area).
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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