The online payment market in Europe is undergoing a phase of regulatory and technical transformation. The full implementation of PSD2, followed by preparatory work on PSD3, is reshaping the rules of the game for payment service providers and e-merchants.
At the same time, new payment rails like SEPA instant transfers are gaining ground against traditional card networks. This context is pushing companies to reassess their online payment management solutions, sometimes without a clear view of the ongoing changes.
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Frictionless strong authentication: what changes concretely for online transactions
Most guides on online payment mention 3-D Secure and transaction security. Few detail the shift that has taken place since 2023-2024 by banks and European payment service providers towards invisible strong customer authentication (SCA) journeys for the client.
The principle relies on risk-based authentication engines. Rather than systematically requiring validation via SMS or banking app, the system evaluates the risk of each transaction in real-time. When the risk is deemed low, the TRA (Transaction Risk Analysis) exemption applies: the customer sees no additional authentication steps.
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According to the European Banking Authority (EBA), the share of payments authenticated through risk-based approaches is steadily increasing. This rise is accompanied by a decrease in the fraud rate on online cards in the European Economic Area, as confirmed by the EBA’s SCA compliance reports for 2022-2023.
For e-merchants, this evolution has a direct impact on customer experience and conversion rates. A payment journey that adds a visible validation step leads to cart abandonment. Specialized players in optimizing these journeys, such as those listed on https://www.flashwave.fr/, are specifically working on the smoothness of this step.
The available data does not yet allow for precise quantification of the conversion gain related to frictionless SCA compared to traditional 3-D Secure. Field feedback varies according to industry sectors and average cart amounts.
SEPA instant transfer as an alternative to credit cards in online payments
Competing articles list the usual payment methods: credit card, digital wallets, sometimes traditional transfers. SEPA instant transfer is rarely addressed as a standalone e-commerce payment solution, even though the European regulatory framework encourages this usage.
The European regulation on instant euro transfers requires providers offering SEPA transfers in euros to make instant transfers available at the same rate as standard transfers. This obligation changes the game for several use cases: high-value carts, B2B transactions, recurring subscriptions.
The benefits for merchants are twofold. The processing fees for an instant transfer are generally lower than those for a card transaction, where interchange and network fees add up. The settlement of funds is almost immediate, whereas a card payment involves a settlement delay of several days.
However, consumer adoption remains a barrier. The payment experience via transfer is not yet as smooth as the “one click” offered by card payment solutions. The journey often requires redirection to the customer’s banking app, which adds steps. The usability of the instant transfer checkout remains the main technical challenge for providers integrating this rail.
Hidden costs of payment solutions: commissions, currency exchange fees, and settlement
Comparing payment solutions solely based on the displayed commission rate is akin to comparing phone subscriptions based only on the monthly price. Several cost lines escape a quick reading of the pricing grids.
- Interchange fees vary depending on the type of card (debit, credit, corporate, international) and the issuing country. A foreign corporate card costs significantly more to process than a domestic debit card.
- Currency conversion fees apply as soon as a customer pays in a currency different from that of the merchant account. Some providers apply a markup on the exchange rate in addition to a fixed fee per transaction.
- The settlement time, that is, the time between the transaction and the actual arrival of funds in the company’s bank account, varies from one to several days depending on the providers. A slower settlement directly impacts cash flow, especially for low-margin businesses.
Few providers display these three items transparently. For a business with a significant share of international customers, the actual cost per transaction can be significantly higher than the nominal rate announced.
Tokenization and PCI-DSS compliance: what merchants really need to manage
The PCI-DSS standard governs how card data is stored, processed, and transmitted. For an e-merchant, the level of compliance required directly depends on the chosen technical architecture.
Tokenization involves replacing the card number with a unique token, unusable outside the system that generated it. A merchant using tokenization through their payment provider drastically reduces their PCI-DSS compliance scope. They never store card data on their own servers.
This approach has become the standard for modern online payment solutions. It offers a concrete advantage for transaction security: even in the event of a compromise of the merchant’s system, stolen tokens have no exploitable value.
Field feedback diverges on one point: the portability of tokens between providers. Changing payment solutions often means losing existing tokens, forcing recurring customers to re-enter their banking details. This technical lock-in is not always mentioned at the time of subscription.
The choice of a payment solution commits the company for several years, considering migration costs, reconstitution of tokens, and adaptation of customer journeys. Taking the time to assess data portability and pricing transparency before signing remains the best protection against unpleasant surprises.