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The European Union has reached an important agreement on a new package of rules designed to strengthen consumer protection in digital payments, improve transparency of fees, and create a fairer environment for banks and non bank payment providers. These changes will significantly influence the way payment institutions, fintech companies and online merchants operate across Europe.
For businesses based in Malta or serving EU customers, understanding and preparing for these changes is essential. BDO Malta is ready to assist organisations as they adapt their operations, strengthen controls and navigate this evolving environment.
🔒 What's Changing under the New Payment Services Framework
Payment-service providers (PSPs) will be liable to compensate customers for unauthorized transactions when fraud prevention measures fail. Fraud detection, strong authentication, transaction-screening and name/IBAN matching requirements will become mandatory.
Consumers (and by extension businesses) will benefit from transparency: fees and charges, including currency conversion or cash-withdrawal fees must be clearly disclosed before a payment is initiated.
The updated framework lowers entry barriers for "open-banking" and non-bank payment providers by harmonising authorisation and supervision, facilitating account-data access, and promoting fair competition.
The regulation also expands obligations around dispute resolution procedures, risk assessment and compliance for any entity involved in payment services including non-banks, fintech firms, and technical service providers.
✅ Where BDO Malta Comes In: Helping Firms Comply, Compete, and Grow
With wide-ranging expertise across financial services, including payments, regulatory compliance, corporate structuring and advisory, BDO Malta can help you to:
Align with the new regulatory requirements: Our Regulatory Compliance teams can assess your payment service setup, perform gap analyses and help implement required controls.
Evaluate and establish optimal corporate structures: For fintech, payment institutions or e-commerce businesses, our Corporate Advisory services can help with incorporation, licensing, and on-going compliance in Malta - an increasingly attractive EU jurisdiction.
Ensure tax and reporting readiness: Through our audit, accounting, tax advisory and outsourcing services, BDO Malta supports accurate financial reporting and compliance under evolving EU rules.
Design tailored strategies for fintech / payment firms: Our Advisory team's experience in banking, fintech, governance, risk management and regulatory compliance positions us well to help businesses adapt to the new EU payment-services regime and take advantage of market opportunities opened by "open banking" and harmonised cross-border frameworks.
What This Means for Businesses & Clients Based in Malta
Given Malta's strategic position in financial services and its regulatory environment, the new EU payment services regulation presents a timely opportunity. Whether you're a fintech startup, an established payments business or a company expanding into payment services, aligning with the new rules from the outset is critical. We are a full-service, end-to-end professional services firm. With BDO Malta's multidisciplinary, cross-functional team, you benefit from a seamless offering that spans structuring and licensing, accounting, audit and compliance, right through to ongoing governance and risk management.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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