Epas card payment standard showcased

EPAS members will, for the first time, showcase a working implementation of the Electronic Protocol Application Software (EPAS) standard at CARTES & IDentification 2008.

Ingenico and Hypercom, terminal manufacturers, will demonstrate how their solutions interact with systems provided by Atos Worldline (Acquirer protocol), Experian (Issuer simulator), SRC (TMS protocol), Scheidt & Bachmann and Wincor-Nixdorf (Retailer protocol). GALITT and Integri will provide software simulators for this demonstration environment.

EPAS: first ISO 20022 standard for card payments

EPAS is a consortium of key European stakeholders actively involved in the card payment value chain. This initiative aims at defining and promoting a framework of standards to deliver universal interoperability between three types of actors in card payment systems: a Retailer, an Acquirer and a Terminal Management System. The proposed series of standards will deliver a seamless payment experience to consumers and retailers whilst reducing the inefficiencies and costs of integrating multiple proprietary solutions from multiple vendors. EPAS has recently been endorsed as the first universal ISO 20022 standard for card payments.

EPAS: a solution applying across all Europe

Pierre Boyer, Head of Card Information System at Total - the fourth largest publicly-traded integrated international oil and gas company and member of EPAS consortium - stresses that "Thanks to SEPA and EPAS, retailers will have the freedom to select one single solution applying across Europe, the opportunity to deploy cost-effective payment solutions and value added services based on common interfaces allowing the interchangeability of components."

According to William Vanobberghen, Coordinator of the EPAS Consortium and Head of International Projects at Groupement des Cartes Bancaires - CB: "EPAS has created - thanks to the involvement of key stakeholders of the card payment industry - the necessary momentum to achieve a series of universally accepted standards worldwide. Defining a new set of standards and protocols is a key pre-requisite to ensurre the further interoperability and development of card payment business worldwide."