Equals accepted onto euro payments schemes

Payments technology company Equals announced on Monday that, via its subsidiary Spectrum Payment Services (SPS), it has been accepted by the European Payments Council (EPC) to join the SEPA Instant and SEPA Credit Transfer schemes, for euro payments.

The AIM-traded firm said connecting to the SEPA schemes would allow its customers to receive instant euro credits to their ‘own-name multi-currency IBAN’, and instantly send euro payments to other scheme members.

“We are delighted to be live on both SEPA Instant and SEPA Credit Transfer and are excited for the real value this will drive for our customers,” said chief product officer James Simcox.

“Businesses today are operating 24/7 and these new SEPA capabilities deliver payments for those customers in real time when they need them.

“We are very excited about the new products we can deliver to our customers on these payment rails, particularly in the Equals Solutions space.”

Equals said joining SEPA was a “key step” in its strategy to integrate to payment networks, speeding up movement of funds for customers.

Direct integration would also allow the group to maintain control over the customer experience, and reduce reliance on third parties, thus eliminating costs and improving reliability.

Integration with SEPA, combined with Equals' direct membership of the UK's Faster Payments Scheme, meant that all transactions in the key sterling-euro currency pair would become instant for Equals customers.

“Integration to another payment scheme demonstrates our ongoing commitment to direct connectivity and rapid movement of funds,” said chief executive officer Ian Strafford-Taylor.

“This development is in line with the group's objective to continue to improve our efficiency and scale, driving down our cost base and exploring new revenue opportunities as a leading fintech.”

At 1158 GMT, shares in Equals Group were down 1.57% at 78.25p.