Numeral and BPCE Payment Services announce the first full-API gateway across all SEPA payment schemes for fintechs

Paris, June 5th, 2023: Numeral, the leading banking orchestration platform, and BPCE Payment Services, the payment services provider of Groupe BPCE, the 2nd largest banking group in France, announce the first full-API gateway across all SEPA payment schemes with corporate spend management platform Spendesk, Banking-as-a-Service platform Xpollens, and employee benefits platform Swile as launch clients.

Such partnership is the first of its kind that enables regulated fintech companies to become SEPA participants and send, receive and reconcile payments across all SEPA credit transfer, instant credit transfer and direct debit payment schemes via a single API and modern dashboard.

“As the fintech ecosystem grows and matures, more players are looking to integrate a more significant part of the payment value chain. BPCE Payment Services has historically been very present in the SEPA indirect participant market, notably servicing Group BPCE entities as well as France’s most innovative fintech companies. Teaming up our expertise with Numeral, we’re aiming at democratising this access model to European fintechs and global ones looking to address the European market. By enabling our joint customers to benefit from our offers via a simple API and modern dashboard, we considerably lower the cost and time of integration and de-risk the technical part of such projects” – Pierre-Antoine Vacheron CEO Payments Groupe BPCE.

A new strategic option for regulated fintech companies

By becoming SEPA participants, payment and electronic money institutions can issue their own IBANs for their customers, gain more control over their payments, and optimise payment costs at scale.

Non-banks cannot directly connect with SEPA clearing and settlement mechanisms. They work with sponsor banks to do so. By working with tier 1 banks such as Groupe BPCE, fintech companies benefit from resilient and proven payment infrastructure, domain expertise, and complementary financial services such as financing options, card issuing and acquiring, and more.

As of June 2023, only 11% of European payment and electronic money institutions adopted this model. One reason for this is that before the Numeral and BPCE Payment Services initiative, fintech companies could only connect with tier 1 banks through complex connectivity channels or challenger banks offering fewer services than tier 1 banks, including incomplete coverage of SEPA payment schemes.

More than just a gateway

Fintech companies making the strategic decision to become SEPA indirect participants manage significant payment volumes for large customer bases. Doing so efficiently, securely, and in accordance with the regulation at scale requires more than basic connectivity.

“Becoming a SEPA indirect participant is a logical step in regulated fintech companies’ growth. But despite the significant benefits this model brings, many companies are reluctant to kickstart such strategic projects because of the resources required to build integrations with sponsor banks and, maybe most importantly, the resources required to operate as a SEPA indirect participant in compliance with the regulation and the European Payment Council’s rules. In addition to simple, modern connectivity, fintech companies require additional operational and compliance services to do so successfully. That’s why we are very pleased to partner with BPCE Payment Services, who have extensive experience accompanying such projects and built value-added services based on that experience” - Édouard Mandon, co-founder and CEO at Numeral. 

Numeral and BPCE Payment Services joint customers will benefit from value-added services from both partners.

In addition to BPCE Payment Services SEPA payments processing capabilities and access to SEPA clearing and settlement mechanisms, customers will benefit from the bank’s anti-fraud control, advanced reporting, and dispute management capabilities.

Connecting to BPCE Payment Services through Numeral, customers will benefit from Numeral’s payment automation, and real-time access to payment statuses, accounts balances account transactions, and automated bank reconciliation capabilities through a unique API and a user-friendly dashboard.

An already successful model

Leading European fintech companies Spendesk, Xpollens, and Swile already benefit from Numeral and BPCE Payment Services collaboration. They highlighted an unparalleled 2 to 3 months time-to-market, up to ten times lower payment costs, and the scalability of our  platforms.

Through this partnership, Numeral and BPCE Payment Services aim at democratising the access to SEPA clearing and settlement mechanisms for a thriving European fintech industry, giving businesses and consumers more transparency on the institutions holding their funds and processing their payments via fintech’s branded IBANs, and accelerating the adoption of new payment methods such as instant payments through fintech’s agility.

To learn more, visit www.numeral.io and www.payments.groupebpce.com

About BPCE Payment Services

Thanks to its recognized expertise in the field of cards & payment processing, BPCE Payment Services supports the banks and subsidiaries of Groupe BPCE, as well as an external client base composed of financial institutions and payment service providers. As the first to operate Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and instant payment in France and processing company for Banques Populaires and Caisses d’Epargne, together the leading Visa card issuer in continental Europe, BPCE Payment Services manages more than 20% of the payment processing activities in France.

https://www.payments.groupebpce.com

About Numeral

Numeral is the bank orchestration platform designed for fintechs and financial institutions building advanced payment flows on top of their banking partners.

Through a single API and central dashboard, our platform empowers product and finance teams with seamless bank integrations, faster payments, real-time data visibility on accounts and payments as well as efficient workflows.

Numeral provides the payment infrastructure for European fintech trailblazers like Swile, Spendesk, and Alma and has a growing European client base. Numeral also partners with Europe’s leading banks, including Barclays, HSBC, Groupe BPCE, BNP Paribas and ABN Amro. Launched in 2021, Numeral has raised €13m from world-class investors like Balderton and eFounders.

Contacts

Numeral, Matthieu Blandineau, press@numeral.io.

BPCE Payment Services, Coba Taillefer, coba.taillefer@bpce.fr