Modernizing Payments with PSD2 & PSD3

At their core, PSD2 (Payment Services Directive) and PSD3 redefine how payments work in Europe. They challenge financial institutions, PSPs, and TPPs to think bigger: to create systems that are secure, transparent, and innovative while protecting consumers and enabling competition. Here’s the big picture:

1. Enhanced Security: Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), fraud detection, and liability shifts put security at the center.
2. Open Banking: APIs give third-party providers (TPPs) real-time access to customer data. It's about creating a connected ecosystem.
3. Consumer Transparency: Clear, detailed transaction data, no hidden fees. Simple. Honest.
4. Operational Excellence: Faster transaction monitoring, scalable data-sharing, and compliance automation.
5. Market Competition: Level the playing field—access to payment systems for everyone.

Now here’s the question: How do you make it all work?

The answer: CrateDB. A distributed SQL database that scales effortlessly, analyzes data in real time, and handles both structured and semi-structured data like a pro. It’s built to meet the demands of PSD2 and PSD3. Let’s break it down.

1. Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) & Fraud Prevention

The future of payments is secure by design. CrateDB makes it happen with real-time processing and fraud detection. 

Example: Storing SCA Events in CrateDB

Every login attempt, device detail, and geolocation needs to be stored securely and queried instantly. With CrateDB: 

CrateDB can process millions of these events per second, enabling real-time fraud analysis. 

Learn More: CrateDB Real-Time Performance

2. Fraud Prevention: IBAN Verification

Matching IBANs with account names is crucial to prevent fraud. CrateDB handles large-scale joins across datasets. 

Example:  Large transaction table containing millions of rows and need to join it with an IBAN registry to validate account details while applying filters to extract specific data.

This query executes instantly—even on billions of records—thanks to CrateDB’s distributed SQL engine combined with the power of columnar storage and indexes on all columns by default.

Learn More: CrateDB for Fraud Detection 

3. Open Banking and API Access

APIs are the bridge between banks and TPPs. CrateDB ensures secure, fast, and reliable data exchange.

Example: Real-Time Consent Management

CrateDB stores and updates customer consent data in real time, empowering PSPs to provide transparency through a dashboard. Here some key benefits of CrateDB in consent management:

• Time-Series Optimization: Tracks consent changes efficiently over time.
• JSON Flexibility: Easily stores and queries dynamic consent data structures.
• Geospatial Insights: Adds location-based analysis for consent events.
• High Scalability: Handles millions of records with ease.
• Retention Policies: Automatically manages storage of expired records.

Below is an example of how consent management implemented using CrateDB. 

 Learn More: CrateDB API Use Cases

4. Data Sharing for Open Banking

CrateDB supports semi-structured JSON, making it perfect for storing and querying TPP-related data. Each payment rail (ACH, card, check, cross-border, etc.,) has its unique data structure. Using JSON in CrateDB allows modeling this diversity while keeping the schema flexible and adaptable to changes.

Example: JSON Data for Open Banking APIs

CrateDB supports semi-structured JSON, making it perfect for storing and querying TPP-related data. Each payment rail (ACH, card, check, cross-border, etc.,) has its unique data structure. Using JSON in CrateDB allows modeling this diversity while keeping the schema flexible and adaptable to changes. 

Learn More: CrateDB and JSON 

5. Consumer Transparency

Give consumers what they deserve: clear, detailed transaction data. CrateDB enables real-time storage and querying for transparency. 

Example: Storing ATM Charges

And with tools like Grafana, CrateDB powers dashboards that display anomalies instantly.

6. Enhanced Transaction Monitoring

Transactions don’t just happen—they tell a story. CrateDB’s time-series capabilities help you analyze every detail.

Example: Monitoring Transactions in Real Time 

And with tools like Grafana, CrateDB powers dashboards that display anomalies instantly. 

Learn More: CrateDB Time-Series Analytics 

7. Compliance and Audit Trails

Compliance isn’t optional—it’s a necessity. CrateDB logs every action and event for full traceability.

Example: Audit Log 

CrateDB ensures these logs are immutable, meeting strict compliance requirements.

Learn More: CrateDB and Log Analysis 

Why CrateDB Stands Out

• Real-Time Analytics: Process billions of rows of data instantly.
• Scalable and Distributed: Built to grow with your business. 
• JSON + SQL: The flexibility of JSON with the power of SQL. 
• Cost-Effective: Designed for massive workloads without massive costs