Financial news

The acquisitions will see EPI, iDEAL, and PQI working together to realise EPI’s vision of a new, innovative, and unified payment solution for Europe.

EPI’s focus on building a European-grown instant payment solution is based on the belief that Europe requires a payment system that is tailored to its specific needs. 

By building a system that is unique to Europe, the EPI aims to provide faster, more efficient, and more secure payments across the continent.

Currence iDEAL is the Dutch payment scheme, and PQI is a Luxembourg-based payment solutions provider that currently serves iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact Payconiq Company in Belgium, and Payconiq in Luxembourg. 

iDEAL: Integral part Dutch payment landscape

iDEAL is an online payment method that consumers can use to pay through their bank.

Since its inception in 2005, iDEAL has become an integral part of the Dutch payment landscape with almost 100 per cent of Dutch consumers using it for online payments. 

With over 1.2B payments made per year and over 6M on peak days, iDEAL has grown into the Dutch online payment standard, with 70 per cent of all e-commerce transactions in the Netherlands paid using iDEAL.

Daniel van Delft, CEO of Currence iDEAL, says, “The acquisition of Currence iDEAL by EPI marks the beginning of a new international adventure. In the short term, we will continue our focus on the scheduled roll-out of the new iDEAL and value-added services to improve the use of iDEAL for consumers and merchants.” 

“For the long term, we look forward to working together with our partners to realise the strongest foundation possible for this truly European payment scheme,” van Delft.  

ABN Amro, Rabobank joins ING

Besides acquisition, EPI also welcomes four new shareholders – Belfius and DZ Bank, who joined at the end of 2022, and ABN Amro and Rabobank, who are now coming on board alongside existing Dutch shareholder ING. 

Existing EPI shareholders include BFCM, BNP Paribas, BPCE, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, DSGV, ING, KBC, La Banque Postale, Nexi, Société Générale, and Worldline. 

Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI Company, says, “EPI is delighted to welcome Currence iDEAL and PQI. Together we will join forces to realise EPI’s vision as we build an innovative solution based on a new, unified instant payment scheme and platform for Europe.” 

“EPI will leverage the strong operational experience, know-how, and local market knowledge of these companies. We are developing a new, scalable platform to address the modern and evolving payment needs of European consumers and merchants in the best possible way, with efficient, state-of-the-art technology,” adds Weimert.  

European Payments Initiative

The European payment industry leaders have come together to create a new payment solution called the European Payments Initiative (EPI). 

This initiative will use the existing instant, account-to-account payment scheme that is already widely available in the region. 

However, EPI’s goal is to bring greater efficiency and value to customers by enabling European banks and acquirers to collaborate and make direct and instant payments between bank accounts.

“The EPI product will be a multi-faceted digital wallet solution and an instant, account-to-account payment means under one brand, unified across European countries,” EPI.

Pilot by 2023 end

EPI will initially enable person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-professional (P2Pro) payments, followed by online and mobile shopping payments and then point-of-sale payments. 

Consequently, a comprehensive range of transaction types will be supported, including one-off payments, subscriptions, installments, payments upon delivery, and reservations.

The EPI digital wallet with P2P payment functionality will be launched for the first users in a pilot phase by the end of 2023 across two countries: France and Germany. 

A broader market launch in Belgium, France, and Germany will happen in early 2024. 

These markets together represent more than half of all non-cash payments in the Euro area. 

Expansion to other European countries will follow, says EPI.