With this transaction volume Equens is the payment processor which handled the most SCT payments in Europe after the Euro Banking Association (EBA). All SCT payments processed by Equens were generated from its own client base. The smooth processing of this unexpectedly large amount of SEPA transactions shows that Equens is indeed ready for SEPA. What's more, large volumes will result in scale benefits, which will translate into attractive rates for the market.

During this first week of SEPA, the number of SEPA Credit Transfer payments processed by Equens took an enormous flight. Michael Steinbach, Chairman of Equens' Board of Directors: "The successful processing of these SEPA payments proves that our SEPA infrastructure is entirely in place. As opposed to the majority of solutions, which process the new XML standard for SCT payments by means of conversion, Equens already processes XML files in an end-to-end mode. This means that the increasing number of SCT payments immediately provides Equens with additional advantages, whereas other processors with a conversion solution in place will have to invest in the time-consuming development of an XML solution. The fact that we immediately started off with relatively large transaction numbers shows that our clients have faith in us. We are very pleased with this promising start in a challenging, but promising era. And this is just the beginning."

As one of the largest payment processors in Europe, Equens is looking to further consolidate its strong position by leveraging scale through (international) partnerships in order to further reduce the cost per transaction. With an explicit growth strategy the organisation aims to maintain a top position in the European payments industry.