One of the most enduring debates in the context of the
anti-money laundering legislation pertains to the width of its “regulatory net”
vis-à-vis the constantly evolving financial ecosystem. This holds particularly
true in light of the accelerated pace at which financial innovation occurs,
resulting in new industry players, digital services and innovative technology-enabled
operational models. A sector where technology advancement brought about major
novelties is most certainly the payment one. In the quest to promote
competition and ensure a better user-experience, in fact, the EU legislator
opened up for new services and providers, like the account information service
and the payment initiation service providers. The provision of the latter
raised a host of regulatory questions relating to the correct fulfillment of
AML requirements, specifically regarding the customer due diligence obligation.
The aim of this article is to analyze whether and how payment initiation
service providers have to carry out the customer due diligence obligations. The
major challenging issues (e.g. who the “customer” is for the purposes of the
AML legislation and, consequently, how the relationship with such customer
should be qualified) will be examined in light of the current regulatory
framework and the new Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 (“AMLR”).