From 2028, your payment provider will have to show its currency conversion mark-up as a clear percentage, check payee names on transfers, and re-apply for its licence. All three come from PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation (PSR). The final text was agreed in April 2026 and still awaits official publication.
Most coverage is aimed at banks and payment providers. But the companies that send, receive and hold money through those providers will feel the changes too, in their daily operations and in their margins.
What changes in day-to-day operations
- Name checks are spreading. Providers will have to confirm that the name on the receiving account matches the name the payer typed. Instant payments already work this way, and PSD3 extends it to other transfers. If your company’s legal name, trading name, and account name don’t line up, expect more payments to be flagged or delayed. The rules also say a merchant’s usual trading name should match the name customers see on their statements. Now is a good time to tidy this up.
- Virtual IBANs get official recognition. The PSR recognises virtual IBANs as valid account numbers for payments and reconciliation, with safeguards against misuse. These are extra account numbers that route money into one main account. They help a business that collects payments from many clients see who paid what, but they will also come under closer scrutiny.
- Paying by bank should get more reliable. The rules set tighter standards for the connections that let customers pay straight from their bank account. If card fees eat into your margins, these payments become a more realistic option.
- Your provider will be checked again. Every e-money institution has to show the regulator it meets the new rules to keep its licence. Most will pass. Some may merge, cut services or leave countries. If your EMI is your only account, that is an operational risk worth knowing about early.
What it could do to your costs and margins
FX costs become easier to compare. Providers will have to show currency conversion costs both as an amount and as a percentage above a reference mid-market rate. Many businesses lose more to hidden FX mark-ups than to visible fees. Once every provider has to show the same figure, comparing them gets much easier. If you pay suppliers or staff in other currencies, it is worth knowing your real conversion cost now, so you have a baseline.
Provider fees must be clearer too. Payment providers will have to explain to merchants exactly what they charge, which should make pricing easier to negotiate.
Fraud costs move to providers, and some may come back as fees. Providers will carry more responsibility when consumers are tricked by someone pretending to be their payment provider. In those cases, the provider has to refund the customer quickly or explain in writing why it won’t. That protection is for consumers, not business payers. But providers pay for it somewhere, so expect tighter checks, lower limits for new clients, or higher prices in some segments. If your own business serves consumers as a payment company, this cost lands on you directly.
Compliance work costs money. Re-applying for licences, building new checks, and updating systems is expensive for providers. Some of that will show up in pricing over the next two years.
Three questions to ask your provider before PSD3 comes into force
- When will you apply under the new rules, and do you expect any change to your services?
- Where is my money held, and does anything change? E-money institutions must keep client money separate from their own.
- How will the new FX disclosure show my current conversion costs?
PSD2 is remembered for open banking. PSD3 is likely to be remembered for clearer prices and checks at every step of the process. Businesses that prepare early can use both to negotiate better terms. Businesses that don’t will find out in 2028 that their payment provider changed under them.
I work at Narvi, a Finnish-licensed e-money institution, part of a group of alternative business account providers across the EEA. Views are my own.