Auchan Group, Ingenico (Euronext: FR0000125346 ‐ ING leading worldwide provider of payment solutions) and the Crédit Mutuel-CIC group today announce the official launch of their common card payment solution pilot based on SEPA standards in France, in an Auchan store.
This is the very first time that a universal payment application software built on SEPA standards is deployed in a store. The key benefit of this new solution for the market is residing in the possibility to accept with the same application the different payment cards issued by financial institutions.
The Ingenico SEPA payment solution deployed in the Auchan Faches-Thumesnil store and connected to Credit-Mutuel-CIC SEPA system is now available.
This common solution will be to be extended to other European countries.
Arnaud Crouzet, Head of Group Global Payments Development of Groupe Auchan, points out:
"This is a very important move forward in the objectives of an integrated Europe's payment markets. This first SEPA pilot demonstrates that a more secure, open and accessible cards acquisition across the European market is possible and is becoming a reality. For retailers, it is becoming imperative to have fair and transparent solutions within Europe to allow us replying to our customers' expectations for a more convenient and cross-channel experience."
Claude Brun, Managing Director at the BECM/Crédit Mutuel-CIC Group, highlights the importance of this key milestone:
"As a leading Worldwide Acquirer, always striving to best meet the needs of our Customers, retailers and consumers, we are very proud to launch the first live pilot based on the open standard card payment protocol SEPA, in partnership with AUCHAN Group and Ingenico. This pilot is part of our dynamic process of pan-European acquiring business, and therefore constitutes an important milestone in the development of our international strategy".
Ingenico is delighted of this important achievement as a consequence of the close collaboration with Auchan Group and Crédit-Mutuel-CIC resulting in the implementation of the 1st live SEPA pilot. This new momentum illustrates again that Ingenico is ahead in innovative solutions and confirms our privileged position to deliver SEPA-wide cost-optimised payment services," declared Pierre-Antoine Vacheron, EVP, Managing Director Europe-SEPA at Ingenico.