equensWorldline launches pan-European interoperability solution for payments
EquensWorldline, a subsidiary of Worldline, has launched its SEPA Proxy Lookup (SPL) service for interoperability between existing mobile person-to-person (P2P) payment services.
The SPL service is ready to be used
The SPL service is ready to be used, and the first (unnamed) provider has integrated the service into its mobile payment solution.
The service is based on the SPL scheme managed by the European Payments Council (EPC). EquensWorldline says it was selected as the preferred SPL service provider by the Mobile Proxy Forum, a working group initiated at the request of the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB), to achieve pan-European interoperability for P2P mobile solutions.
Michael Steinbach, CEO of equensWorldline, comments: “Even with SEPA, we still see a fragmentation of the P2P payment solutions market in Europe. Each country has or is developing its own domestic solutions. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to create a user-friendly pan-European payment ecosystem.”
According to equensWorldline, the new service replaces the need for manual exchange of payment information. It connects the lookup services available in different markets to facilitate the use of the beneficiary’s mobile phone number to retrieve the correct IBAN.
The SPL service is described as an intelligent routing network among connected P2P payment providers and forgoes the creation of an additional central IBAN database.
