What is AIS?

AIS, standing for Account Information Services, is a term coined under the PSD2 (Second Payment Services Directive) framework. It denotes online platforms that consolidate data from multiple payment accounts, which a user holds across various banks. By doing so, AIS facilitates third-party service providers to access and present a unified view of the user's financial data, granted the user's authorization. The overarching goal of PSD2 is to foster innovation and competitive parity in the European Union's payment landscape.

What is PISP?

PISP stands for Payment Initiation Service Provider. Under the PSD2 framework, a PISP is a third-party provider that is authorized to initiate payments on behalf of the user, with their consent, directly from the user's bank account. This service is part of the open banking movement aimed at fostering innovation and competition within the financial sector. By enabling direct bank-to-bank payments, PISPs provide a streamlined, secure, and efficient payment experience.

Ping's Application of AIS

Ping leverages AIS to ascertain the identity of parties involved in a transaction, be it a payer during an acquisition flow or a payee in a settlement flow.

Acquiring
This stage could encompass bank-to-bank payments executed via autogiro or open banking channels (known as PISP payments). Here, Ping Payments, or you as a tenant through your personal bank integration, necessitates the bank account details of the payer.

Settlement
This phase might involve payouts through various channels like GCA, Bankgiro, or SEPA. During this stage, Ping Payments requires not only the recipient’s account details but also their identity verification. Sometimes, this verification is melded with our standard KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure, utilizing the contract platform, OneFlow. The intent behind the payout could be as routine as a regular payment process at Ping or as specific as a refund, especially when funds reside in Ping's escrowing service.

Decoding KYC

KYC, an acronym for "Know Your Customer," is a mandated protocol that financial entities follow to verify their clients' identities. The essence of KYC is to forestall inadvertent facilitation of money laundering, terrorist financing, or other unlawful ventures by these entities. The process entails gathering fundamental identification details (such as name, address, and date of birth) along with more exhaustive data (derived from ID documents, financial disclosures, or other avenues). Through KYC, institutions can gauge customer-related risks and vigilantly monitor for any anomalous activities.

Next steps

The goal of these guidelines is to provide recommendations on how to best integrate our suite of KYC-tools.