The certification process was executed by PayCert on behalf of the OSCar Consortium.

OSCar is the international initiative that aims to facilitate and speed up the implementation of the SEPA Cards Standards in the point-of-sale terminal-to-acquirer domain, based on SEPA FAST and EPAS. More specifically, the consortium's main objectives are to ensure that point-of-sale devices and acquirer systems work together seamlessly.

Prior to going live, acquiring banks and processors need to be formally approved and pass qualification at authorized test laboratories. Clear2Pay's Oscar Acquirer Test Solution enables acquiring banks in the SEPA zone to verify whether their implementations are conform to the functional SEPA standards. The OSCar certified test solution can be used by acquirers as a benchmark tool during development and to prepare for official validation - thus avoiding costs related to certification failure.

Marie Costers, General Manager Clear2Pay Open Test Solutions, comments: "In our market leading position in payments technology, it goes without saying that we also wish to contribute with our Testing expertise to the adoption of a new market standard in the Eurozone. With the SEPA compliance end date set to February 2014, the solution will prove of great value to banks enabling them to go to market faster with certified implementations. Merchants will benefit from enhanced interoperability in a unified payment area."

Loys Moulin, OSCar Coordinator adds: "We are pleased that Clear2Pay, an expert provider of test solutions with over 25 years of experience, is supporting OSCar in paving the way to a streamlined payment experience. After the company's first proof of concept of OSCar demonstrated at Cartes two years ago, this test tool validation is a new milestone in the evolution of the card standard."