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Payment Services Directive for businesses

Protect your transactions through the Payment Services Directive (PSD) with HSBC as your service provider. By partnering with a financing-focused global business, you can connect with people, companies and markets within the eurozone and around the world.

Overview

The PSD, which came into force on 1 November 2009, is a European Union initiative to bring clarity to payment services laws within the UK and across the European Economic Area. The Directive categorises businesses with a turnover of less than EUR2 million as a microenterprise. Those with a turnover of more than EUR2 million and/or employ 10 or more people are categorised as a corporate business.

Get in touch with us if your business turnover or financial situation changes so that we can apply the relevant sections of the PSD. Otherwise, have our Relationship Managers do this with you at your annual review.

Microenterprise

Receive clear information about the charges and timescales surrounding the payments you make.

We already meet or exceed the standards set out in the legislation, which means you probably won't notice too many changes to your day-to-day business banking.

Benefits of the PSD for microenterprises

Under the PSD, banks and other providers of payment services across Europe must:

Provide you with all the information you need when you make a payment, including clear information about rates and charges
Offer a consistent level of service, such as making sure all payments are completed within a predetermined time frame
Protect customers across Europe when payments aren't executed correctly or authorised by the customer

Corporate business

When it comes to your business's finances, clarity is key. Learn how PSD works so that you can make informed business decisions.

The PSD is primarily aimed at protecting the interests of personal customers and small businesses, many of the benefits are not relevant to businesses of your size. As a result, the European Commission has given banks the option to opt-out of a small number of areas of the Directive.

HSBC has chosen to apply the opt-out for customers that fall into the corporate category. We feel this is a step that protects the interests of both bank and customer and allows us to manage payments on terms that are more appropriate for larger businesses.

Benefits of the PSD for corporate enterprises

The principal aim of the PSD is to ensure that banks and other providers of payment services across Europe offer a consistent level of service and are transparent in their dealings with customers by:

Providing you with all the information you need when you make a payment, including clear information about rates and charges
Offering a consistent level of service, such as making sure all payments are completed within a predetermined time frame
Protecting customers across Europe when payments aren't executed correctly or authorised by the customer