The solution will allow EBS to achieve immediate SDD compliance across its branch network and provides interoperability with other banks and CSMs across the SEPA region. As one of the first financial institutions in Ireland to offer a SDD solution, EBS will be at the forefront of innovative SEPA payment services.

EBS chose VocaLink's SEPA Accelerator as it provides immediate compliance. It also offers the building society the flexibility to gradually expand its SEPA services as required and provides access to banks within SEPA through VocaLink's Euro CSM. SEPA Accelerator can also be easily integrated with the building society's existing IT architecture.

Owen Purcell, EBS Head of Retail Products, comments: "SEPA payment instruments are a key enabler for the future of payments across Europe and we are keen on bringing this value to our customers through our payment services. By using VocaLink's SEPA Accelerator, our customers will be able to retain their EBS accounts, for example, when moving abroad, and pay utility bills and rent using their existing account details. At EBS we want to be at the forefront of SEPA payments in Ireland and the VocaLink SEPA Accelerator is a quick and cost-effective solution for becoming SEPA compliant."

Peter Vestergaard Larsen, European Sales Director at VocaLink, adds: "We very much look forward to our cooperation with EBS. Making SEPA a reality in Europe is often considered a costly and time consuming task by banks and building societies. Outsourcing this service to a specialised service provider helps financial institutions address these challenges. In response to market needs VocaLink has developed SEPA Accelerator - a simple and cost-efficient way to achieve SDD compliance within a couple of weeks."

The VocaLink Euro CSM was established in July 2007 to process SEPA transactions from January 2008 onwards and offer other payment services. It is now providing SEPA Credit Transfers, SEPA Direct Debitt transactions as well as a suite of value-added services including payment capture and mandate management. Recently, VocaLink has signed interoperability agreements with ICBPI, the Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane, to enhance reach of SEPA, non-SEPA and Euro payments.