The E-Money Directive or the ''electronic money directive'' (2009/110/EC, originally 2000/46/EC) regulates electronic payment systems in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. The aim is to enable new and secure

electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

services and to foster effective competition between all market participants. As per Article 2(2) of Directive 2009/110/EC, “e-money” means “electronically, including magnetically, stored monetary value as represented by a claim on the issuer which is issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of making payment transaction, and which is accepted by a natural or legal person other than the electronic money issuer”. e-money is “technically neutral” (Article 7) and intended to serve as an “electronic surrogate for coins and banknotes” (Article 13). The European Commission describes e-money as a "digital alternative to cash". The European Central Bank accounts for e-money as "overnight deposits". Because electronic money is technically neutral, it can be issued on different media including prepaid cards and electronic wallets. In 2019, Monerium became the first company authorized to issue e-money on

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

s. By mid-2024, blockchain-based spending accounts linked to

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...

s were available in Europe for initial customer testing. According to

PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support E-commerce payment system, online money transfers; it serves as an electronic alter ...

, UK, "PayPal enables individuals and businesses to send and receive electronic money online".

Revolut Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, doing business as Revolut, is a British multinational neobank and fintech company that offers banking services for individuals and businesses. It was founded in July 2015 by British-Russian-French businessman Niko ...

, UK, is "authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations". And

Wise_(company) Wise, previously known as TransferWise, is a British financial technology company focused on global money transfers. Headquartered in London, it was founded by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus in January 2011. As of 2023, it offers three ...

, UK, is also "authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations".

References

External links

Directive 2009/110/EC on the taking up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions
(given 16 September 2009)

Payment systems Digital currencies Banking in the European Union {{EU-stub

See also

References

External links