As part of a European Union mandate called the Revised Directive on Payment Services, or (PSD2), merchants operating in the EU economic zone must use payment service providers within the European Economic Area that offer what is known as strong customer authentication.

This is also sometimes referred to as the SCA requirement or the PSD2 compliance. In essence, this directive ensures that transactions occurring within the EU’s economic territories make use of multi-factor authentication in order to verify a buyer’s identity.

The promises of the European Union single market, while not full borne out in the reality of the business world, where the same are actually still far from the dream promised when it comes to the virtual single market. What does this mean?

In other words, the European Union might act as a single market when it comes to monetary issues and beyond, but the EU single digital market is hampered and its growth restricted by a myriad of factors including various compliance regimes and the logistical mastery needed to make it all work.