Fire has been authorised to provide new services under recently-introduced European Union rules aimed at opening banking.
Earlier this year, the second payment services directive (PSD2) was implemented across Europe. The legislation was designed to bring more innovation and competition to the payments market while enhancing standardisation and security for consumers. It also introduced new regulated parties called Payment Initiation and Account Information service providers.
In response, Fire.com has now become the first Irish firm to authorised as a payment initiation service provider (PISP) for the second payment services directive.
The company, 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.
Colm Lyon, founder and CEO at fire.com added: “For some time, the idea of being able to easily pay funds directly from an account to another person or business has been discussed, also some people don’t want to share their account or card details to make a payment. That is what being a PISP is all about.
“This enables numerous different scenarios – charities can display QR codes on social media, which can be scanned so potential donors are directed to their bank to authorise and approve the payment. Businesses can sell online; when someone checks out, they are directed to their bank to authorise the payment – straight from their account to the online retailer. 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. It opens up so many ways for payments to change.”
Lyon previously established Realex Payments, which grew to be one of Europe’s largest online payments gateway businesses. Processing over €28bn per annum for 12,500 retailers, Realex Payments was acquired by Global Payments in March 2015 at a value of €115m. Lyon previously acted as director & chairman of the FinTech and Payments Association of Ireland( FPAI) and co-founded networking group Payments Ireland.
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