On 4 December 2018, the European Banking Authority (EBA) published final guidelines that specify the conditions, set out in Article 33(6) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/389, to exempt account payment service providers (ASPSPs) that have opted for a dedicated interface from the obligation to set up the contingency mechanism described in Article 33(4) of the Commission Delegated Regulation. The guidelines also provide guidance on how Member State competent authorities should consult the EBA for the purposes of the exemption in accordance with Article 33(6) of the Commission Delegated Regulation.

The EBA reports that it has amended the guidelines in certain areas to take into account industry feedback. In particular, as regards the involvement of third-party payment service providers (TPPs) in the exemption process, the EBA has clarified that, for the purpose of the exemption, ASPSPs will need to show TPPs’ involvement in the design and testing of their dedicated interfaces and provide the Member State competent authority with the feedback they received from TPPs that participated in the testing, together with an explanation of how the ASPSP has addressed any issues identified during the testing.

The guidelines will be translated into the official EU languages and published on the EBA’s website. The deadline for Member State competent authorities to report whether or not they comply with the guidelines will be two months after the publication of the translations. The guidelines will apply from 1 January 2019.