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ence across in-person, in-app and mobile commerce chan- possible while ensuring against anti-competitive behav-
nels. The UK-based firm leverages open banking among iors."
fintechs, third parties and financial institutions to acceler-
ate payment flows, share data and help service providers Nicholds has seen European lobbyists attempt to make
add value to customer relationships. For example, Chip, a commerce more secure. This principle is the basis for
Judopay client, created an app that plugs into a consum- strong customer authentication and a key component
er's bank account and initiates what Nicholds described as of PSD2, which was devised to address the need for en-
"subliminal savings." hanced authentication after fraudsters shifted from card-
present to digital commerce following EMV and digital
"Chip uses algorithms to analyze expenditure patterns, commerce migrations, he added.
save money for users and get them better returns," Nich-
olds said. "Users grant permission, save money and decide As part of their efforts to invigorate the market and en-
what they want to do with it. That's a good example of courage competition, European regulators are encourag-
open banking and the kind of client we're supporting." ing fintechs and other new players to join the payments
ecosystem. They have also created two new open bank-
Regulator-led initiatives ing categories: the account information service provider
Nicholds further noted that Europe has a long history of (AISP) and the payment initiation service provider (PISP).
regulator-led initiatives, and a number that have come These regulated entities facilitate secure initiations and
from the European Commission are working their way retrievals between open banking providers.
through to eventually become law. For example, the sec- End users have a right to understand the specific data that
ond payment directive (PSD2) came from the European AISPs and PISPs share and with whom and for how long
Commission and was passed into law by the European they share the data. These requirements fall under Eu-
Parliament. rope's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which
became law in May 2018.
"It sometimes takes a while to pass legislation," Nicholds Changing currents, currencies
said. "Some countries are quite speedy; others take more
time. The European focus has centered on the overall com- As he reflected on global efforts to improve payment
merce ecosystem and market, trying to make it as open as flows, Nicholds suggested that the current system is not