For Equens, one of the largest European card and payment processors, this 10th inter-CSM agreement underlines its continuous dedication to SEPA. The partnership is scheduled to go live before the end of this year.

This agreement is an important step in optimising the financial flows between Eastern and Western European countries. The collaboration provides the banks of both communities with a fast, cheap and low-risk method of achieving reach with the banks of the other community and enables simple and effective exchange of SEPA payments. The partnership is based on the Interoperability Framework of the European Automated Clearing House Association (EACHA). [1]

The partnership with BORICA-BANKSERVICE AD represents Equens' 10th CSM interoperability [2] agreement. As one of the major processors in the SEPA region, Equens offers full reach to all its clients throughout Europe. The company is currently processing SEPA transactions for banks and CSMs in sixteen European countries, and is constantly expanding its CSM community and interoperability with other CSMs across Europe and beyond. In addition to the agreement with the Bulgarian BORICA-BANKSERVICE, recent developments include the exchange of SDD transactions with SECB (Switzerland) in August and the signed agreement with TransFond (Romania) for SCT last June.

Michel Stuijt, General Manager of Market Management at Equens: "We are very pleased to establish this bilateral link with BORICA-BANKSERVICE AD. We truly believe in the importance of SEPA. Our SEPA transaction volumes and client demand consistently show progressive growth. Based on our strong European foothold and promising outlook, we will continue to invest in SEPA, both for inter-bank and intra-bank processing. The connection to BORICA-BANKSERVICE is an important step for us to improve our reach in Bulgaria as it offers substantial benefits for our clients with connections in Bulgaria in terms of reachability, speed and costs."

Aleksandar Stanev, Procurator and Chief Director of Business Development - Payment, Information and Software Services at BORICA-BANKSERVICE AD: "BORICA-BANKSERVICE AD, one of the founding members of EACHA¬, strongly supports SEPA development as an important milestone for the integration of payments across Europe. Links between CMSs are essential bridges between communities and they will ensure SEPA benefits for banking clients. The connection to Equens will enrich the current reachability [3] of our clients and is an important step in our continuing effort to expand the SEPA reachability of our community."