The company has been authorised as a payment initiation service provider (PISP) for the second payment services directive. This is a new regulation that came into effect in mid-January 2018, forcing banks to open up their technology platforms to third parties.
Fire, which provides business and personal customers with digital accounts and debit cards, said becoming a service provider would enable it and other companies to help businesses receive payment in new ways. Utility billers can add “pay from your account” links to emails, enabling people to click and pay from their accounts without using a card or sharing any details, according to Fire officials.
While relatively unknown in the UK, payment initiation service providers are considerably more popular elsewhere in the EU. In the Netherlands, as many as 55% of payments made are initiated through such providers.
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