Finextra Research: Latest fintech news, analysis, interviews, features and opinion by industry experts

Credit Agricole and Equens in payment processing 'merger' talks

France's Credit Agricole has signed an agreement to "explore the possibility" of merging its card and payment processing operations with Equens.

25 November 2009

News/Sepa

VocaLink restructures business for European push; CCO Wilson steps down

UK payments processor VocaLink has outlined plans to split the business into three units - clearings, cards and Euro services - as it bids to take advantage of Sepa and expand its presence on the continent.

16 November 2009

News/Sepa

European banks call for more political backing for Sepa

The European Payments Council has called on EU authorities to initiate a Sepa communications campaign "comparable to that afforded for the euro introduction" to kick start public support for the Single Euro Payments Area project.

13 October 2009

News/Sepa

EBA Clearing ready for Sepa Direct Debit launch

The clearing arm of the Euro Banking Association (EBA Clearing) says that its Step2 ACH platform is ready to begin processing Sepa Direct Debits, in line with the forthcoming November 2 deadline for the introduction of the new payment instruments.

12 October 2009

News/Sepa

European Commission moves closer to enforcing Sepa end-game

The European Commission is in talks with member states about setting a deadline for the migration of national payment schemes to the new Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) after a public consultation exercise showed widespread support for the move.

01 October 2009

News/Sepa

BTMU adopts Pelican for Sepa compliance

Japan-based Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) has become the first adopter of Ace Software's Pelican payments product in a Sepa-compliant, software as a service format.

14 September 2009

News/Sepa

Bank of America Merrill Lynch goes with Fundtech to launch online payments hub

Fundtech has signed Bank of America Merrill Lynch as the first customer of its new Global PAYplusServices Platform (Global PAYplus-SP). The platform is based on a service-oriented architecture and will be the foundation for the bank's next-generation online banking channel for treasury management. The new payments system will be available to clients in the second half of 2010.

14 September 2009

News/Sepa

New schemes vital to Sepa for cards success - ECB's Tumpel-Gugerell

MasterCard and Visa need to be challenged by at least one new scheme if Sepa (Single euro payments area) for cards is to succeed, according to ECB executive board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell.

10 September 2009

News/Sepa

China emerges as a growth market for non-cash payments

China is fast catching up with the US and Europe as a growth market for non-cash transactions, according to the latest edition of the annual World Payments Report from The Royal Bank of Scotland, Capgemini and Efma.

09 September 2009

News/Sepa

Fundtech signs European banks to Global Cashplus

Fundtech has signed National Bank of Greece and another, unnamed, European financial institution, to its transaction banking system, Global Cashplus.

07 September 2009

News/Sepa

EBAday 2010 to take place in Luxembourg

EBAday 2010 - the fifth annual European payments conference and exhibition organised by Finextra and the Euro Banking Association - will open for business in Luxembourg on the 26th and 27th May.

04 September 2009

News/Sepa

Top banks count the cost of PSD compliance

Tier one banks in Europe have set aside as much as EUR20 million each to attain compliance with the EU's Payment Services Directive (PSD) by November, with about 30% of the budget earmarked for technology changes.

25 August 2009

News/Sepa

Sepa still looms large for UK corporates - survey

Ensuring compliance with changes in payments regulation, such as the migration to Sepa and the PSD, remains a priority for 40% of UK corporates, according to a survey from Experian.

10 August 2009

News/Sepa

Payment systems users warn of risks of Sepa failure

European business and consumer organisations are warning that plans to create a Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) are doomed to failure unless payment systems end users are more widely consulted.

21 July 2009

News/Sepa

German and French banks push ahead with new debit card scheme

German and French banks, including Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale, have stepped up efforts to create a new European debit card scheme to challenge MasterCard and Visa.

10 July 2009

News/Sepa

EBA Clearing banks launch direct debit implementation forum

Future participants in the Sepa Direct Debit (SDD) Services of EBA Clearing convened today to launch an implementation forum. The central objective of the forum is to ensure a smooth start-up of the EBA Clearing SDD Services and promote commercial development of the SDD Core and B2B payment instruments.

01 July 2009

News/Sepa

Clear2Pay acquires Dutch consultancy Ereon; launches 'Sepa in a box' for SDD processing

Belgian payments outfit Clear2Pay has acquired the assets of specialist Dutch consultancy Ereon. Financial terms were not disclosed.

30 June 2009

News/Sepa

Dutch banks introduce national Iban and BIC conversion system

The Netherlands Bankers' Association (NVB) is preparing for the arrival of the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) with the introduction of a new nationwide Iban (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identifier Code) look-up service for all Dutch citizens and corporates.

29 June 2009

News/Sepa

Bumper turn-out expected for EBAday 2009

The Euro Banking Association and Finextra are preparing for a bumper turn-out at this year's EBAday 2009 payments conference and exhibition in Vienna, as delegate numbers for the two-day event reach a record high.

26 June 2009

News/Sepa

SIX Group plans Sepa direct debit service

Swiss financial infrastructure firm SIX Group says it will begin offering a Sepa-compatible outsourced direct debit processing service when the SDD scheme launches in November.

23 June 2009