Munich, 26 July 2023. Munich-based fintech Gini, a leader in innovative payment initiation solutions, is the first German company to officially become a Referenced Technical Solution Provider (TSP) for Request-to-Pay.*
With the inclusion, Gini declares that it complies with the SEPA Settlement Request Payment Scheme (abbreviated as SRTP) rulebook and meets all conditions set by the European Payments Council (abbreviated as EPC) in relation to the payment request. The set of rules, comprising 18 points, defines the technical processes and standards that enable significant improvements to the account-to-account (A2A) payment process. From the availability of the technical infrastructure to mandatory implemented monitoring and alert mechanisms to messaging in ISO20022 formats, the EPC rules specify exactly how the payment request is transmitted and which accompanying service conditions must be fulfilled by the providers. This will create a strengthened payment network based on the millions of bank accounts that already exist in the EU.
Request to Pay brings advantages – for all parties
With Request-to-Pay, digital documents with payment information such as invoices can be integrated and retrieved. Online merchants in particular benefit from the new payment method, as the payment process is more resource-saving and significantly simplified. As the service is based on the SEPA Direct Debit scheme and therefore does not incur any additional transaction costs or fees, further cost savings can be expected compared to third-party payment providers.
Banks also win, as they regain an important corporate banking interface between themselves and traders and regain visibility in their day-to-day business. This direct interface to the bank is, in turn, beneficial for end users, as they do not have to share important banking information separately.
Highly complex technical processes are simplified for users
What customers do not have to see, thanks to SRTP, are the complex technical procedures of the payment process. First, the payment agreement is made – the request-to-pay scheme based on the ISO 20022 standard or PAIN messages (PAIN = PAyment INitiation) or a compatible format is used for this. Then the payment is executed immediately (SCTinst) or within one banking day (normal SCT transfer run) based on the payment agreement just made. However, depending on the agreements, payment can also be made later. Gini’s SEPA-compliant payment requests can be implemented easily and securely for any bank or merchant via Mobile SDK or API.
“With Request-to-Pay, the course has been set for a new standardized payment solution within Europe. More reliably and faster than before, account-to-account payment transactions can be made with it,” says Holger Teske, CEO and co-founder of Gini. “Request-to-Pay represents a new milestone in digital payment solutions. Now it’s up to us to exploit the potential.”
*Overview of currently authorized providers, retrieved on 17.7.23: https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/other-schemes/sepa-request-pay/sepa-request-pay-referenced-technical-solution-providers
