The role that payments play within the general framework of financial services in the EC is indispensable for the realization of a true single European market including, inter alia, the conditions of cross-border purchasing, the legal framework of consumer protection, and the technical standards against fraud in payment systems. The Commission's New Legal Framework for payment services in the internal market - as evidenced by the EC Payment Services Directive (PSD) - represents an important step towards the completion of an initiative for a Single Euro Payments Area and, more broadly, EU-wide.