Irish fintech firm fire.com has secured the authorisation to offer payment services under the new European Union directives that encourage open banking.
The company was authorised as Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP) under the second payment services directive (PSD2), which was implemented across Europe earlier this year.
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Under the new system, banks and other account providers will allow authorised third parties including fire.com to access their accounts.
The PSD2 is designed to encourage competition and the introduction of new products to the payments market. It also facilitates standardisation and security for consumers.
fire.com founder and CEO Colm Lyon said: “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.”
