PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2) is a revised European payments directive that forces banks to make private payment accounts accessible to FinTech companies. The payments directive, created by the European Commission (EC) to break the monopoly position of banks and allow new players into the market, was supposed to be in force in all European member states since January 2018, but was not introduced in the Netherlands until February 2019.

The Payments Directive makes it possible for companies - with customer consent - to start managing bank data. This creates competition and promotes innovation; think of an overview of different bank accounts of various banks in one app and payment services such as iDEAL (issued by Currence, an initiative of eight Dutch banks) and Tikkie (an initiative of ABN AMRO). Banks are generally not happy with the revised Payment Directive: it deprives them of the sole right to make payments.

FinTech stands for financial technology. In order to manage bank data, FinTech companies need licenses. These licenses can be obtained from De Nederlandsche Bank as of July 2018. The requirements FinTech companies must meet are very strict due to the sensitive nature of the data they will be working with. For example, bank data may not be used for commercial purposes unless the customer gives express permission.