BNP Paribas and BPCE join forces to create a payment processor

By Gloria Methri

BNP Paribas and BPCE have announced a strategic partnership to acquire a payment processing technology for cardholders and merchants. This payment processor would handle all card payments from the two banks in Europe and could also be opened to other banks.

The partnership will respond to ongoing market developments, particularly those relating to the digitalisation of payment systems, the virtualisation of debit cards and the promotion of instant transactions.

This processor would handle all card payments from BNP Paribas and Groupe BPCE in Europe, accounting for 17 billion transactions, and could also be opened to other banks.

The partnership would result in the creation of a common processor with a technological platform capable of integrating technological standards for payments, the growing usage of digitalisation and the innovations brought about by domestic and international schemes (Carte Bancaire, Visa, Mastercard, EPI/Wero).

With 17 billion transactions from BNP Paribas and BPCE processed, this processor could be the leader in France and rank among the top in Europe.

Nicolas Namias, CEO of BPCE, said, “The first generation of our collaboration in payments with BNP Paribas was a great success. With this new industrial partnership project, in line with our next strategic plan, we are taking an important step towards accelerating innovation in payments in the coming years. In this way, we will offer the best quality of service to our customers, in particular the networks Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne.”

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Director and CEO of BNP Paribas, said, “Payment systems are an essential component of the bank’s relationship with its customers, and we must ensure they adhere to the highest possible standards. Given that the increase in card transactions is exponential, our ambition for this processor is to create a device that is efficient and scalable across all our European locations. It is this context that demonstrates how important this joint European platform project with Groupe BPCE is, as it aims to support the acceleration of our development in payment systems.”