Now, you can connect accounts in other banks to your lunar way app - and it’s only the beginning

It also means that change is coming for banking as we know it and as a fintech on a mission to fundamentally change the way we handle, perceive and talk about financing, banking and money in general, we are very proud to offer this to our users.

Best of all? It’s only the beginning, because in the next couple of months we will continue to finetune, tweak and update and soon we will release the next part of this fundamental change - the opportunity to initiate transactions and payments with money stored in every account connected, but handled through the Lunar Way app.

This essentially means that our users can have their money secured in different banks and accounts, but get full overview and control all their payments in just one place - the Lunar Way app.

And it’s all made possible because of PSD2.

PSD… What?

It doesn't sound particularly gripping - PSD2. Nevertheless, the cryptic name covers a significant paradigm shift, that is changing banking at its core.

PSD2 is an EU directive that, in short, allows bank customers to use third-party actors to get an overview of their finances and to handle their money - with the customer's consent of course. Essentially it means that you will be able to pay your bills, transfer money and analyze your consumption through a third party provider, while your money is kept safe in a regular bank account.

The directive has been created to accommodate digitization, which increasingly affects almost all aspects of our daily lives — including the way we handle our money. The purpose of the EU directive is, therefore, to modernize the rules for payments both to account the many new digital payment options, but also to support the competition in the banking sector and increase security.

Read more: Lunar receives European banking license

What does it all mean?

Now it may all sound a bit boring and technical but PSD2 is groundbreaking in reality, and being able to offer account overview and payments (in the future) with integrated external accounts is indeed a giant leap for banking.

Because PSD2 means that banks will not only have to compete with other banks anymore but with other providers of financial services such as fintech companies. The directive is actually breaking centuries of monopoly on payment services and account information, not only for fintechs and other financial actors, but also for the banks themselves, who since the dawn of time have kept information on customers and accounts separated with watertight bulkheads.

And when you consider the fact that the first bonafide bank was founded over 600 years ago this truly is a historic event that will change banking as we know it.

Oh, did we mention the winners? The users and customers will have a range of ways and actors to handle their finances and an even stronger hand when deciding who will provide their financial infrastructure going forward.

Things change. Banks should too - and now they are.

Welcome to the future of banking. We’re just getting started.

Read on: Lunar's 2018 recap and visions for 2019