Tackling Identity Fraud in SEPA – It's as Easy as KYC

Talk of Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) transactions has been ubiquitous during the past 12 months. So, as we approach the end of the year, where is SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) and what's on the minds of businesses looking to use the service for cross-border transactions?

SEPA Direct Debit: A Soft Launch

We finally saw the European Payments Council (EPC) launch the SDD and SEPA Business to Business Direct Debit schemes on 2nd November 2009. It was billed, and received, as a "soft launch", mainly because it won't be mandatory for banks to be reachable by SDD until November 2010.

Was the launch a success? Well, figures from the European Commission show that 2,600 of Europe's 8,000 banks were ready for SDD at the time of launch. Some commentators see this number as evidence that SDD has a long way to go, and the consensus seems to be that an end date for legacy payments systems is the catalyst SDD needs.

In addition, many in the industry still argue that businesses don't see a need for SDD. They often cite the slow uptake of SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) as a portent of SDD success. For the record, nearly two years after its launch, SCTs make up close to 5% of Europe's credit transfers.

Driven by you?

Do businesses see a need for SDD? I believe they do, even though the SDD initiative has not been driven by demand from businesses. In last quarter's edition of EDDA ViewPoint, Paul Smee, Chief Executive of the Payments Council, made the point that SEPA has been a "top-down" exercise prompted by the European Commission and European Central Bank, rather than the result of a "bottom-up bubbling of enthusiasm for SEPA products". It's easy to see the commission's motivation. In 2008, a Capgemini study estimated that SEPA could bring €123 billion of benefits to the single market.

It's probably fair to say that the EPC has overlooked users at times during the development of SDD. Earlier in the year, the SEPA Payments System End User Committee indicated that the EPC hadn't consulted it sufficiently and warned that SEPA was doomed to fail unless it was consulted more. With the SDD launch, the committee's concerns came to the fore again, in particular, it raised concerns over pricing and security.

Security still high on the agenda

We've found that security is high on the agenda for customers looking to collect SDDs. Contrary to much of the doom and gloom surrounding SDD, we've seen increasing interest in our SEPA payments-processing platform, PayCentre®. Businesses obviously want to automate SDDs in the same way that they've automated domestic direct debit collections and processes.

Perhaps businesses in the vanguard of SDD aren't typical, but our PayCentre® customers see SDD as a means to streamline their international payment processes, improve liquidity and reduce costs.

However, much like the End User Committee, many of these businesses fear the growth of fraud in the SDD scheme. Particularly, when debtor banks don't have to perform a minimum check for payment requests. Effectively, consumers can set up SDDs with just a bank account number — they don't even need the correct name

Tackling Direct Debit fraud

Home Office figures show that identity fraud cost the UK £1.2 billion in 2008. Rules in the UK Direct Debit scheme have become more stringent in recent years to eliminate identity fraud. Bacs focussed on the Paperless Direct Debit scheme, which was seen as vulnerable to fraud. As a result, Bacs made Know Your Customer (KYC) checks mandatory for Paperless Direct Debit service users. Today, paperless Direct Debit service users must ensure:

• That payers are who they say they are
• That payers live where they say they live
• That bank accounts belong to payers

Many businesses in the UK use advanced software such as Direct Debit Limited’s DD-iD™ to perform KYC checks. DD-iD™ provides an automated online identity check that complies with the Direct Debit scheme rules. More importantly, the software reduces the risk of identity fraud and gives businesses peace of mind.

Security is key to SDD Success

Software such as DD-iD™ should help alleviate the concerns of SDD pioneers over identity fraud and, in some ways, it will play a role in the success of SDD. In the last edition of ViewPoint, Barry Plumley, Direct Debit Limited's Head of Banks Relations, talked about the integrity of the SDD scheme. Fraud prevention is fundamental to this integrity because debtors and creditors will need assurance that the scheme is secure before SDD attains critical mass. I have a feeling that security will still be an important factor for SDD in 2010 — it certainly will be for us, because it is for our customers.

Qatar National Bank Chooses PayCentre®

Qatar National Bank (QNB) is implementing Direct Debit Limited's multi-payment processing platform, PayCentre®, to automate Bacs payments for its clients. The bank is the leading financial institution in Qatar and is an agency bank on the Direct Debit scheme.

Following an evaluation of its internal processes, QNB wanted to implement a bank-grade payments platform that could grow to meet its future needs. The bank chose PayCentre® because it automates processes for multiple payment types and ensures compliance with payment-scheme rules. Moreover, the software has a modular structure, which means QNB can extend its features as it requires.

College of Law Set to Save Time with Direct Debit expert™

The College of Law has chosen to automate its Direct Debit processes with Direct Debit expert™ (DDe™) and Direct Debit Organiser™ (DDO™) from Direct Debit Limited. The college plans to become a paperless Direct Debit service user so that it can offer students the option to sign up online.

As part of its focus on Direct Debit, the college decided it needed processes to run more efficiently. DDe™ will reduce the amount of time the college spends processing payments and will ensure that it complies with Bacs regulations. In addition, the college will implement DDO™ to add an extra layer of automation that will further reduce the administrative burden on its staff.

September Sees Strong Demand for Bureau Services

During September, lots of businesses looked to Direct Debit Limited's online bureau service, Pay Direct™, to manage their Direct Debits. The service appealed to businesses that wanted the benefits of market-leading Direct Debit software, but didn't want to support or invest in additional IT infrastructure.

Pay Direct™ has given these businesses control of their collections, compliance and cash flow. Unlike many traditional bureaux, Pay Direct™ offers businesses anytime access to their payment information. Businesses that signed up to use the Pay Direct™ service in September included Per Ardua Legal Services, Morgan Brookes plc, Mobo Innovations, Promotional Paper Works, Virtual Showroom and Bowness Leisure.

Experts Explain Changes to Direct Debit Scheme Rules Direct Debit Limited's scheme training was more popular than ever during the summer months. In addition to a comprehensive scheme-training programme, finance professionals received detailed instruction on changes to The Service User's Guide to the Direct Debit Scheme.

Bacs and the Office of Fair Trade have identified approximately 6,000 organisations that don't download Automated Direct Debit Amendment and Cancellation Service (ADDACS) reports and apply the information in them. Service users need to be aware that persistent offenders risk losing their rights to collect Direct Debits.

Ensure that your organisation complies with the scheme rules by taking the Direct Debit Essentials Plus training course. Our experienced instructors lead you through the Direct Debit scheme rules and share best practices to ensure your Direct Debits are compliant and efficient. We offer one-day regional training courses or onsite courses that can be tailored to your organisation's needs.

For more information contact our training specialists on +44 (0)20 8408 7888 or email training@directdebit.com.

First two European Banks sign up for PayCentre® – the new Intelligent Multi-Payment Platform for International and National Transactions from Direct Debit Limited

‘All-in-one’ solution for banks and enterprises is fully SEPA-compliant – ensures full cash flow visibility and control

In another industry first, leading provider of advanced global payments solutions, Direct Debit Limited has launched PayCentre®, a multi-payment solution suitable for both national and international payments that meets all the requirements of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme, due to come into force in November 2009.

PayCentre® is a multi-level payment platform with intelligent processing capabilities for organisations looking to undertake international, SEPA and domestic Direct Debit and Credit, Faster Payments and Credit Card transactions. “This revolutionary development is highly scalable and can run both as a stand-alone application or integrate easily within your existing software infrastructure,” confirms managing director, Gerry Hill.

Improved cash flow control

Critically, PayCentre® enables corporates and banks to improve cash flow by providing the all-round visibility of financial data essential for full control of collections and payment transactions. Operational efficiencies are enhanced by ensuring fewer errors with straight-through processing, reducing paperwork and manual input allowing for payments to be collected earlier with lower processing costs.

“In addition,” says Hill, “the new automated solution improves service and retention levels by providing a more positive, interactive customer experience – with faster transactions and greatly reduced incidence of errors.”

SEPA compliance

Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) initiatives are designed to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments by creating a single zone with a simplified common system for making and receiving payments. In response, PayCentre® provides a fully compliant solution, incorporating cross-border modulus checking – including sort codes, account numbers and international IBAN and BIC codes – and secure dual authorisation.

“Customers also benefit from PayCentre®’s ability to reconcile exceptions in Bacs and ‘R’ message reports, for example, and the automated production of correspondence in letter and email formats,” says Hill.

“This end-to-end processing capability is underpinned by full audit trail visibility: our open systems ‘right first time’ approach also saves time by removing the need for double key data entry, reducing exceptions requiring manual intervention. By putting this functionality together in one solution the benefit is both simple and compelling: improved cash control.”

At the same time, in the UK, PayCentre® has been approved by VocaLink as an official payments solution for Bacstel-IP and Faster Payments. “Direct Debit Limited’s expertise and modular technology approach also ensured that PayCentre® passed all the necessary software testing in days, rather than weeks or months,” says Hill.

Building on success

Two European banks, one in Spain and the other in Ireland, are the latest to take advantage of PayCentre®’s broad functionality in providing an improved service to their customer base.

“With over 20 years’ experience in the payments industry, Direct Debit Limited has an unrivalled history of providing scalable and flexible payments solutions which meet customers’ current needs and future growth,” believes Hill.

“PayCentre® builds on this outstanding record by providing the world’s first robust, fully-compliant, all-in-one national and international payments platform, enabling businesses to make secure, intelligent payments and ensure complete cash flow control.”

Take control of your international and domestic transactions by contacting one of our payment specialists today on +44 (0)20 8408 7888 or moreinfo@directdebit.com.

Bacs Approves Direct Debit Limited's New Multi-Payment Processing Platform, PayCentre®, for Bacstel-IP

Direct Debit Limited’s new multi-payment processing platform, PayCentre®, has now been approved under the Bacs Approved Software Service for Bacstel-IP payments – otherwise referred to as the three-day Bacs electronic payments cycle. This follows the product's approval for Faster Payments in March 2009, when PayCentre® successfully passed Secure-IP UK Faster Payments testing.

Salih Mripa, IT Director at Direct Debit Limited, says: “Yet again, we have proved to UK payments processor VocaLink, that PayCentre® is the most powerful multi-payment processing platform on the market today. Our Quality Assurance team performed extensive testing on PayCentre®, which explains why the system was approved on its first visit. This success also demonstrates the advantages of the intelligent architecture developed by our specialist team of in-house developers.”

PayCentre® is a unique multi-payment processing platform that supports Direct Debits, Direct Credits, Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Debits and Credits, Faster Payments, debit and credit card processing and international modulus checking. Its modular build allows it to scale effortlessly and integrate with internal accounting systems and existing software.

To find out more about PayCentre®, email moreinfo@directdebit.com or speak to one of our payment specialists directly on +44 (0)20 8408 7888.

IP Vision Looks to the Future with Direct Debit expert

IP Vision has chosen Direct Debit expert (DDe) to help manage Direct Debit collections from its growing customer base. IP Vision supplies a hybrid digital and IP television service and is due to launch a new set-top box. The company offers pay-per-view services and plans to offer further services on a subscription basis. It decided that Direct Debit was the most efficient method of collecting these payments.

IP Vision expects the number of subscribers to its services to increase following the launch of its new product. As a result, it needed a system that could manage Direct Debit collections and could scale rapidly. DDe will automate IP Vision's Direct Debit processes and allow it to run an efficient and compliant Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS) and paperless Direct Debit system.

Consolidated Carriers Set to Improve Customer Relations with Direct Debits

Consolidated Carriers will offer its customers the option to pay by Direct Debit and has chosen Direct Debit expert (DDe) to manage its collections. The logistics company wanted to offer customers an option to structure their costs with a flexible payment schedule. Consolidated Carriers chose Direct Debit because it gives the company greater control over its payments. In addition, Direct Debit is cheaper to administrate than other payment methods such as cheques.

Consolidated Carriers was keen to adopt Direct Debit but wanted to ensure it didn't increase the amount of administration for its finance team. The company decided to implement software from global payment specialist Direct Debit Limited to automate its Direct Debit processes. DDe provides the company with a user-friendly system that automates its collections and ensures compliance with the Direct Debit scheme rules.

Zenith Provecta Implements Direct Debit expert to Ensure Compliance

Car leasing company Zenith Provecta has decided to take control of its Direct Debit processes with Direct Debit expert (DDe). In 2008, Zenith Vehicle Contracts bought Provecta Car Plan creating the largest independent leasing company in the UK under the name of Zenith Provecta. The amalgamated company collects 5,000 Direct Debits per month. Consequently, Zenith Provecta wanted to find a way to ensure compliance with the Direct Debit scheme rules and to reduce the administration associated with its payment collections.

Zenith Provecta employees attended a Direct Debit Limited training session and were impressed by the company's expertise. As a result, Zenith Provecta chose to work with Direct Debit Limited to integrate DDe with its in-house systems. Direct Debit Limited's application-programming interface (API) integrated DDe with Zenith Provecta's Fleetware system. The company will now use DDe to automate its Direct Debit processes, which should generate significant time and cost savings.

Direct Debit Limited Experts in Demand During May

Direct Debit Limited's market-leading Bacs accredited Direct Debit scheme training was in high demand during May. Finance professionals from a wide range of industries joined sessions led by Direct Debit Limited's experts to learn more about the Direct Debit scheme rules. Direct Debit Limited training sessions deliver information and best practices to ensure companies comply with the Direct Debit scheme rules. Celtic Football Club, the University of Bristol and JustGiving were just some of the organisations that benefitted from the expertise of Direct Debit Limited's training specialists.

Your organisation can benefit from our training too. Register for our Direct Debit Essentials Plus training course today to become proficient in all aspects of Direct Debiting. Whether you wish to attend a one-day regional training course or organise an onsite bespoke course tailored to your organisation's needs, we're happy to discuss your requirements.

Yorkshire Housing Group Deploys Direct Debit expert to Streamline Payments Processes

Yorkshire Housing Group has chosen to work with Direct Debit Limited to increase efficiency of its payment operation. The housing association previously used an old-fashioned paper-based system, which employees found limited and time-consuming. Yorkshire Housing Group chose to work with Direct Debit Limited on a project to migrate to the Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS).

The organization is looking forward to becoming paperless and using Direct Debit Limited's flagship product, Direct Debit expert (DDe). Guy Millichamp, Group Treasurer at Yorkshire Housing Group, says: "DDe will provide the group efficiency and the streamlined process that we were searching for. Reducing unpaids and managing the Direct Debit process compliantly will help us provide a better service to our tenants. The team is thoroughly excited and can’t wait to start using the new automated system."

Caja Mediterráneo Chooses PayCentre® for International Transactions

Spanish bank Caja Mediterráneo (CAM) has become one of the first organisations to take advantage of Direct Debit Limited's global multi-payment processing platform, PayCentre®. The bank provides mortgages for customers living in the UK. CAM customers previously needed to transfer money to a Spanish bank account before CAM could take their repayments. CAM wanted to implement a Direct Debit collection and payment system that would request payments from customers' UK bank accounts automatically and then transfer funds directly to CAM in Spain.

Direct Debit Limited's global payment expertise and unrivalled expertise were key factors in CAM's decision to use PayCentre®. In addition, CAM found that PayCentre® could meet its needs with minimal bespoke development. PayCentre® gives organisations control over payment processes, compliance and cash flow. The platform supports multiple payment methods including Direct Debit, Direct Credit, Single Euro Payments Area debits and credits, Faster Payments and debit and credit card processing.

Herefordshire Housing to Benefit from Bureau Service

Herefordshire Housing is looking forward to using Direct Debit Limited's Direct Debit bureau service, Pay Direct™. The bureau service combines Direct Debit Limited's best-practice processes and market-leading software. Pay Direct™ is a cost effective, outsourced solution and offers Herefordshire Housing the flexibility and control of an in-house payments management system with the low start-up costs of a bureau.

Herefordshire Housing wanted to adopt paperless Direct Debit processes and implement an easy-to-use system that it could deploy quickly. The association found that it could best achieve this with Pay Direct™. The service ensures Herefordshire Housing complies with the Direct Debit scheme rules and provides an audit trail to prove its compliance. Herefordshire Housing joins a long list of organisations using Pay Direct™. These include the Environment Agency, Surrey Police, NSPCC, Ricoh, Invensys Pensions, Norwich Union, Marks and Spencer, Cadbury Schweppes, AXA, AIB, Provident Financial and The Automobile Club.

Relax Group Plc goes AUDDIS and choose Direct Debit expert (DDe) for scalability

Previously collecting payments by standing order into multiple accounts across a number of different banks, Relax Group Plc implemented Direct Debit expert (DDe) into their existing infrastructure to fully automate and increase the number of Direct Debit payment collections, ensuring full Bacs scheme compliance. Taking a move towards efficiency and reduced costs, Relax Group Plc will be utilising DDe to automatically manage and process all Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS) instructions and transaction codes for future Bacs submissions. Already paperless compliant, DDe puts Relax Group Plc in a competitive position for future payment collection plans.

Ross Healthcare implement Direct Debit expert to streamline their payment collections

Ross Healthcare opted for Direct Debit expert (DDe) to create a straight through process for the collection of Direct Debits to help minimise data entry errors and provide treasured customers with the quality and experience they’ll never forget. DDe acts as the central hub of financial information to provide a smoother, streamlined process for Ross Healthcare’s internal operations.

Aston Villa Football Club choose Direct Debit expert to boost cash flow efficiencies

Excessive credit and debit card processing costs is what initially led Aston Villa to look into alternative payment methods. Realising the cost benefits of collecting patrons’ payments via Direct Debit was core to the club’s future growth. The Corporate Hospitality division realised the need to track lapsed hospitality members through Direct Debit expert’s (DDe) full reporting audit trail. Being able to fully monitor member payment records; with a single mouse click; meant Aston Villa could eliminate late payment problems previously experienced before implementing DDe. Aston Villa Football Club now has full visibility of their financial incomings, allowing them to be in complete control of their patrons’ payments via DDe.

Acorn Children’s Hospice provides flexibility to its donors by implementing Direct Debit expert

Offering donors only two dates for Direct Debit collections through a bureau service wasn’t enough for the hospice’s Direct Debit collection needs. The need for payment flexibility, speed and cost savings became paramount. The hospice decided to bring their payment collections operation in-house and implemented Direct Debit expert (DDe) to help save an immense amount of time and money, and allow for flexible payment plans to suit donors’ needs. Acorn Children’s Hospice has now got rid of the painful manual processes they once practised and are now completely Bacs paperless compliant, sending the correct correspondence to their new and existing donors through the high level of automation DDe provides.

Merlin Entertainment Group automate their payment collections process with DDe

Merlin Entertainment Group offer some of Britain’s best known tourist attractions including Madame Tussuads and Alton Towers. The Group had Direct Debit Expert installed into their call centre environment to help them manage their Direct Debit requirements and automate their payment collections processes. This provided operational savings and ensured Bacs compliance was met. With the use of the integrated account validation tool (DDiD), Merlin Entertainment Group has also been able to cut down on potential areas of fraud and meet Bacs paperless Know-Your-Customer requirements.

National Australia Group implements Direct Debit Expert (DDe) API

Direct Debit Limited is pleased to announce National Australia Group (NAG) will be taking advantage of Direct Debit Expert (our flagship solution), to automate their payment processes for all UK ISA’s. Taking advantage of the available web interfaces (API’s) the solution will be fully integrated with existing software, providing seamless processing.

Queens Park Rangers become fully Bacs compliant with DDe

Automating the Bacs correspondence and meeting Bacs scheme compliance rules was just two of the reasons Queens Park Rangers needed the Direct Debit Expert (DDe) solution. Following a full end to end process, DDe limited client data entry errors of financial information with the use of real-time Modulus Checking for optimum processing results.

Direct Debit Bacs Accredited Scheme Training

Our Bacs Accredited Training courses are proving ever popular. Bank of America, Burberry and Capital One are just some of the organisations who have recently attended the face-to-face day sessions over the past couple of months. With most companies wanting to take full advantage of the automated Direct Debit processes available to them, the AUDDIS and Paperless courses provide the perfect foundation to help users and managers alike understand the benefits and apply best practice in their own unique environments.

Click here to find out more about out training courses >>

Direct Debit Limited - The only Bacs approved partner to pass the Direct Corporate Access (DCA) testing for UK Faster Payments with VocaLink

On Thursday, 11th December 2008 it was confirmed by Jane Gamble, Industry Readiness Manager at VocaLink, that Direct Debit Limited had its first successful submission of a DCA file using Direct Debit Limited's new international payments solution - PayCentre®.

The submission was completed successfully and processed end to end in VocaLink's Member test environment. Salih Mripa, IT Director at Direct Debit Limited comments, "It's completely gratifying to see that our hard work, dedication and commitment has paid off. We are completely confident in our solutions; thanks to our specialist development team who take the right measures and ensure all of our payment products are tested thoroughly before being released".

With VocaLink's end to end DCA sign off, PayCentre® is the UK's first DCA Faster Payments solution to have successfully passed the VocaLink test criteria.

"Direct Debit Limited continues to stay at the forefront of competition, keeping ahead of market changes in line with governing rules and regulations. Our new future proof solution - PayCentre®, has now been successfully tested and proven that it's ready for launch internationally" adds Gerry Hill, Managing Director at Direct Debit Limited.

PayCentre® will be launched in early 2009, with customers on a waiting list ready to have the solution implemented into their environment, "Direct Debit Limited shows continued growth and commitment whilst entering a new payments world" adds Gerry Hill.

PayCentre® is the multi-payment platform, offering greater connectivity to payment channels for International, SEPA and Domestic Direct Debit and Credit, Faster Payments and Credit Card transactions. This revolutionary solution is set for success in a financial market where working capital is crucial to all organisations to keep afloat.

To find out more, call us on +44 (0)20 8408 7888 or email moreinfo@directdebit.com.

Regenda Housing Association benefit from AUDDIS

Looking to take full advantage of the benefits pertaining to AUDDIS, Regenda Housing Association have invested in Direct Debit Expert across their entire group. Previous processes have been manual and inefficient, the use of Direct Debit Limited’s software will allow Regenda to automate their collection process and provide direct access to remote users through the browser based functionality.

Scotcall Debt Recovery goes paperless

Scotcall Debt Recovery becomes one of Direct Debits latest customers looking to improve their business efficiencies through automating their Direct Debit Process. With the help of inbuilt scripts and user friendly data entry the offering will be available within their call centre helping to take advantage of the Paperless Direct Debit scheme and maximise Direct Debit uptake.

Portland Press take the right measures to become fully Bacs scheme compliant

Acting as a central collection point for publishing houses Portland Press will be utilising Direct Debit Limited’s solutions to help meet their fulfilment requirements by providing a scalable solution whilst ensuring full Bacs scheme compliance.

British American Tobacco use AUDDIS for B2C transactions

Helping support payments from their vending machine businesses, British American Tobacco chose the Direct Debit bureau facility to help automate this process helping prove that AUDDIS is not just for B2C transactions.

Eaga Insurance continue to capitalise on Direct Debit Expert.

Eaga Insurance a customer since 2006 has recently invested in extending their use of Direct Debit Expert. Since taking on a contract for the BBC, Eaga understand the value of having control over their regular received payments whilst maintaining operational efficiency. The use of the Direct Debit Scheme coupled to the straight-through-processing, Direct Debit Expert allows scalability without the operational expense which normally comes with it

Direct Debit Limited's Bacs accredited training courses booked until September 2009

Many companies are seeing the benefits of utilising Direct Debits more extensively, never more so than during a credit crunch. Investing in staff is an important part of this process with Direct Debit Limited's Bacs accredited training courses proving very popular as a consequence. With courses booked till September 2009, companies such as Kingston Communications, AIG, RAC, AXA Sunlife, Waltham Borough and Southwark City Councils have all taken advantage of the full day face to face training on offer. For further information contact training@directdebit.com

Moorcroft Debt Recovery go live with Direct Debit Expert

Moorcroft Debt Recovery recently went live with Direct Debit Expert and accompanying call centre data entry software DDE.Net. The installed solution allows the user full data entry capabilities including modulus checking, ID verification and Bacs compliant scripting, providing seamless processing directly into the main database ready for submission. Moorcroft currently handle over one million live accounts in total and are one of the UK's largest debt collection agencies.

Monster choose Direct Debit Expert for seamless processing of payments

Direct Debit Ltd is pleased to announce that Monster will install Direct Debit Expert into their offices. Taking advantage of the regular cash-flow the Direct Debit process brings to an organisation the recruitment company opted to automate as much of the process as possible. Utilising Direct Debit Expert allows for seamless processing with automated reconciliation of all Bacs reason codes, including unpaid items, amendments and cancellations.

Eon implement Account Checker to maximise Know Your Customer (KYC) checks

Eon choose Direct Debit Limited to supply Account Checker International for modulus processing. The Account Checker solution will be supplied with a relevant interface (API) to provide Eon with seamless processing into their existing environment. This approach allows paperless originators an easy to install Bacs compliant solution which can integrate seamlessly to an existing call centre or Internet environment, allowing organisations the advantages of signing their customers onto Direct Debit's without the need for a paper mandate to be completed.

EDDA Hosts Major SEPA Conference

The European Direct Debit Association (EDDA) hosted a major conference on the Single European Payments Area (SEPA), with a focus on SEPA Direct Debit that launches in 2009. The conference took place in Canary Wharf, London, on February 7th and 8th.

EDDA organised a comprehensive speaker programme covering every important aspect of the SEPA and also addressing the future of the payments industry in Europe. Delegates heard from some of the current schemes, Banks, and infrastructure companies and, of course, key major European corporates' that will be significant users of these services from the outset. With the first SEPA transactions processed on January 28th, the conference was the first such event following the practical implementation of SEPA payments. The conference was clearly outlined the benefits of SEPA and the changing payments landscape that aims to create faster, cheaper products and services in every EU member state including the UK.

VocaLink, the UK's foremost payment processor, was the lead sponsor of the conference and contributed a number of speakers and panelists. Direct Debit Limited who also took a sponsorship role demonstrated their SEPA-ready system, DDe-€uro to a packed press room at the conference as well as leading a panel discussion.

Highlights of the programme included features such as SEPA Direct Debit - Benefiting Customers, and an EPC Update from Ron Van Wesel of Dutch banking giant ABN AMRO, as well as talks from key speakers from the European Central Bank, The European Association of Corporate Treasurers, large European Corporates such as Telecom Italia, Ernst and Young and infrastructure players such as SWIFT and Equens.

The format included speeches and panel discussions. To find out more please contact us at EDDA on: +44 (0)20 8408 7882 or by email to marketing@edda.eu.com