As new players join the European Payments Initiative (EPI), all eyes will no doubt be on the collective readiness when the first specifications arrive.
From scoping, economic stakes, positioning, planning, modalities and analysis of macro impacts on IT systems, plenty of decisions will have to be made in a short timeframe.
The question is, will it be an anticlimax, a chaotic mess or an exciting opportunity to reinvent payments? And what impact will it have on the ecosystem as a whole?
Right now, the jury is still out.
Whatever the future holds, we can assure you that the Sopra Steria Group – including Sopra Steria, Sopra Banking Software, Sopra Steria Next and obviously Galitt – is EPI ready, and we will be with you all the way throughout the transition.
Here are 5 reasons why the Sopra Steria Group is EPI-ready
- We have 30 years of experience in payments. We were there with the first chip card, the migration to EMV, the PIN code, the CCV, mobile, HCE and contactless. This extensive expertise allows us to define a payment strategy offer adapted for EPI in France and Europe. We can help articulate an IT strategy (outsourcing vs. internalization, partnerships, internal development vs. software, functional architecture to create bridges between flows and electronic payments) or an innovation strategy with CPACE card issuance, terminal acceptance, mobile payment with tokenization or ISO 20022 standard. We can also define a regulatory strategy with a strong expertise in PSD2 authentication, Instant Payment and Request-to-Pay and an EPI marketing strategy to define the EPI products and prepare their deployment, and the relevant customers journeys.
2. In fact, we know so well payments, that we are already delivering training classes that covers all payment topics. We have developed an EPI training course specifically to help you better understand the new payment ecosystem. Organized into four modules, accessible in person and virtually, this training will be carried out by our internal payment teams in our organization that is certified. EPI will require the collaboration of teams from different areas, such as countries, teams (cards and flows) and domains (IT and business). Creating a common culture, having a global vision of payments, onboarding the teams to build the future: these are all reasons to start EPI training.
3. With a customer base of more than 250 banks and financial institutions in Europe and around the world, we provide recognized payment solutions and we are committed to the future of payment. From open banking to interbank exchanges, we have a suite of proven industrial components supporting more than 10 billion transactions per year and more than 35 million cards. We are a pioneer in Instant Payments and Request to Pay, and have the ability to offer new generation payment & card solutions able to meet the challenges of EPI
4. We have a complete understanding of payment systems: architecture, integration and operations. We are experts in agile integration of payment solutions for banks and partners. We have proven methodologies and tools, we manage critical applications 24/7 (application maintenance and technical maintenance) and are experts in the SAM method. Finally, we have the capability to test all components in the payment value chain to ensure 100% system integrity. With all these capabilities, Sopra Steria has been supporting banks for several years now in their major IT transformation projects to build and integrate new solutions, while respecting costs and deadlines
5. Finally, the Sopra Steria Group is a true European player. We are capable of designing, developing and delivering innovative end-to-end solutions that can help achieve the EPI ambition by combining collaborative consultancy and strategic vision with payment expertise, digital best practice and accelerated delivery. What could be better than an experienced European industry player to support you through EPI?
This is not a drill : EPI is here, and we are ready.
More news on EPI, please click on it: Hybridization of payments – Conquering the IP rail – EPI, the payer and the payee