Dutch payments body Interpay and German processor Transaktionsinstitut have completed their merger to create a new pan-European service provider, Equens.
The two shareholders of Transaktionsinstitut - the German DZ Bank and the Belgian KBC Bank - jointly hold 35% of the combined company. Interpay's shareholders, the Dutch banks, hold 65%. The supervisory board comprises nine members and will be chaired by Dietrich Voigtldnder of DZ Bank.
The resulting company will process approximately seven billion payment transactions in 2006, which represents a market share of over 10 percent within the euro zone. In 2005, the two combined entities had a collective turnover of EUR250 million.
The creation of Equens comes as payments market participants restructure and reposition their businesses ahead of the EC-mandated introduction of a Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) in 2008.
The back-office activities and systems of the two subsidiaries will be integrated and aligned in preparation for the arrival of Sepa says Equens deputy chairman Michel Steinbach. He comments: "We will be able to process all payments over our single, common ZVS-platform in conformity with the Sepa standards from the first day of Sepa's inauguration."
The arrival of a uniform euro-domestic market is certain to spur further consolidation in the sector, with expectations that a maximum of only three to five of the payment service providers operating in Europe will survive, each handling a volume of a minimum of at least 10 billion transactions per year.
In a statement, Equens says it will continue to expand its position both autonomously as well as through further acquisitions and partnerships.