Under the partnership Steria will provide consulting services and set up regional hosting facilities to bring Sentenial's award winning SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) solutions to banks and corporates across Europe.

Steria and Sentenial have been cooperating to deliver a SDD online service with an initial focus on the French Market. Based on a Software-as-a-Service model, the solution, branded Ready4Sepa by Steria, is a comprehensive SDD service that allows banks and their corporate customers to take a zero-change approach to SDD adoption. Ready4Sepa, is provided on a pay-per-use basis and allows customers to scale their use as SEPA adoption rates grow.

Sentenial's solutions are already processing SDD payments for several Tier 1 institutions and corporate customers. The solution takes away the burden of migration and enrichment, and alleviates the pressure of maintaining the new scheme alongside the legacy scheme. Underpinned by a strong foundation and proven in the payments space, Sentenial and Steria offer customers a solution for compliance, and more importantly, business enablement.

Sean Fitzgerald, CEO, Sentenial said, 'With the approaching deadline for compliance and the impending end of national direct debit schemes both financial institutions and corporates are now actively looking for SEPA solutions. By working with Steria, Sentenial is best able to bring its award-winning SEPA solutions to the market. We are pleased to be working with such a trusted and recognized partner with a excellent track record of delivery to financial institutions and corporates alike'.

According to Vincent Lenglet, Payments Services Manager at Steria, 'We understand that SEPA adoption can place a significant burden on both banks and corporates. What is key about Sentenial and their product set is that they place very little demand on the customer. Sentenial are the SEPA experts, and they've designed a comprehensive product set that truly easses the adoption effort for their customers. This combined with our in-depth understanding of each of the payments markets puts us in an excellent position to help drive SEPA forward. We are really pleased to be working with Sentenial to help bring their solutions to the market.'

Sentenial works with a number of partners across Europe to help deliver its SEPA payment solutions. As a payments expert with a recognised and trusted brand, Steria adds considerable value to the Sentenial offering.