Payment Services Directive (PSD2)

(77) For financial planning and the fulfilment of payment obligations in due time, consumers and undertakings need to have certainty as to the length of time that the execution of a payment order will take. This Directive should therefore establish when rights and obligations take effect, namely, when the payment service provider receives the payment order, including when the payment service provider has had the opportunity to receive it through the means of communication agreed in the payment service contract, notwithstanding any prior involvement in the process leading up to the creation and transmission of the payment order, e.g. security and availability of funds checks, information on the use of the personal identity number or issuance of a payment promise. Furthermore, receipt of a payment order should occur when the payer’s payment service provider receives the payment order to be debited from the payer’s account. The day or moment when a payee transmits to the payment service provider payment orders for the collection e.g. of card payments or of direct debits or when the payee is granted a pre-financing on the related amounts by the payment service provider by way of a contingent credit to the account should have no relevance in that respect. Users should be able to rely on the proper execution of a complete and valid payment order if the payment service provider has no contractual or statutory ground for refusal. If the payment service provider refuses a payment order, the refusal and the reason for the refusal should be communicated to the payment service user at the earliest opportunity, subject to the requirements of Union and national law. Where the framework contract provides that the payment service provider may charge a fee for refusal, such a fee should be objectively justified and should be kept as low as possible.