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---
title: "EBA Q&A 2018_4163 — Q&A — Fall back exemption [Final Q&A]"
shortTitle: "EBA Q&A 2018_4163 — Q&A — Fall back exemption [Final Q&A]"
answer_id: EBA_QA_2018_4163
status: "Final Q&A"
type: qa
instrument_type: qa
authority: EBA
binding: false
binding_character: non_binding
legal_status: in_force
regulation: "PSD2"
psd2_level3: true
mica_level2: false
legal_basis: "Article 98(4) PSD2"
date: 12 April 2019
source_link: https://www.eba.europa.eu/single-rule-book-qa/qna/view/publicId/2018_4163
lifecycle: "Final Q&A"
text_version: "EBA Q&A register, 12 April 2019"
source_url: "https://www.eba.europa.eu/single-rule-book-qa/qna/view/publicId/2018_4163"
check_status: matched
verified: true
last_checked: 2026-10-26
checked_against: "the EBA publication"
source:
  prepared_by: "EBA"
  published_by: "EBA"
  published_in: "EBA Single Rulebook Q&A tool"
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    locator: "EBA Q&A register entry 2018_4163, field 'Answer prepared by'"
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addressees: "not stated in the document"
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    published_on: "EBA Q&A register entry 2018_4163, field 'Final publishing date'"
    question_submitted_on: "EBA Q&A register entry 2018_4163, field 'Submission date'"
lifecycle_label: "Final Q&A"
---

**Answer by the EBA, published in its Q&A tool · not legislation · published 12 Apr 2019 [Final Q&A]**

*Final Q&A · EBA Q&A register, 12 April 2019 · Checked against the EBA publication on 26 Oct 2026 · [Official source](https://www.eba.europa.eu/single-rule-book-qa/qna/view/publicId/2018_4163)*

| | |
|---|---|
| **Full title** | EBA Q&A 2018_4163 — Q&A — Fall back exemption \[Final Q&A\] |
| **Prepared by** | EBA |
| **Published by** | EBA, in the EBA Single Rulebook Q&A tool |
| **Reference** | EBA_QA_2018_4163 |
| **Document type** | Q&A |
| **Legal nature** | Not legislation |
| **Addressees** | Not stated in the document |
| **Dates** | Published 12 April 2019; question submitted 25 July 2018 |
| **Legal basis** | Article 98(4) PSD2 |
| **Related instruments** | None recorded |
| **Text on this page** | Word for word — the full text of the EBA publication |

**Fall back exemption**

### Question

Article 33, § 6 of the RTS for strong customer authentication and common and secure open standards of communication (the “RTS”) provides that “Competent authorities, after consulting EBA to ensure a consistent application of the following conditions, shall exempt the account servicing payment service providers that have opted for a dedicated interface from the obligation to set up the contingency mechanism \[...\]” (the “fall back exemption”). a) Which authority - the home authority or the host authority ?- is the compentent authority under article 33, § 6 of the RTS, when the “fall back exemption request” concerns the dedicated interface used in a Member state where a branch of the ASPSP is located? b) Does the answer differ if the same dedicated interface is used in the home member state and in the host member state where a branch is located?

### Background

We have been approached by the Belgian branch of a bank (ASPSP) established in another member state who intends to benefit from the “fall-back exemption” for the dedicated interface intended to be used in Belgium

***

### Answer

Article 4 (39) of PSD2 defines a branch as ‘a place of business other than the head office which is part of a payment institution, which has no legal personality and which carries out directly some or all of the transactions inherent in the business of a payment institution’. Furthermore, in accordance with point 17 of Article 4(1) of the Commission Delegated Regulation No 575/2013, a ‘branch’ is defined as ‘a place of business which forms a legally dependent part of an institution and which carries out directly all or some of the transactions inherent in the business of institutions’.

The EBA’s Final report on the Guidelines on the conditions to benefit from an exemption from the contingency mechanism under Article 33(6) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/389 (EBA/GL/2018/07), clarified that because a branch does not have legal personality, an Account Servicing Payment Service Provider (ASPSP) should always have to apply for an exemption from the fall back mechanism with the competent authority of the Member State where its head office is located (the ‘home Member State’). The competent authority of the home Member State remains the competent authority under the PSD2 and the Regulation (EU) 2018/389 for granting an exemption where the ASPSP has branches in other Member States that will use the same, or a different dedicated interface as that used by the head office.

***

**Source:** [EBA original document](https://www.eba.europa.eu/single-rule-book-qa/qna/view/publicId/2018_4163)

## Related Level 1 articles

- [Article 98 — Regulatory technical standards on authentication and communication](../../../articles/98.md)