VocaLink is born

VocaLink - the payments processing organisation formed by the merger of Voca and Link - has officially launched and is planning a push into Europe.

The new company has developed a European-wide payments processing system which will come on stream when the single European payments area (Sepa) comes into effect in January 2008.

silicon.com Financial Services

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Ten banks have so far signed up to use the system, officially named the pan-European clearing and settlement mechanism, or €CSM, including ABN Amro, Bank of America, Lloyds TSB, RBS and Santander.

VocaLink says banks will benefit from lower transaction costs on the new platform - and the more banks that use VocaLink's system, the more those costs will come down. The €CSM will also make the payment process the same irrespective of where in Europe a customer is located.

VocaLink chief marketing officer, Martin Wilson, told silicon.com: "For us to be able to launch a pan-European payment service well in advance of January 2008 is incredibly important. It plays to the vision of Sepa" - to reduce costs for banks and streamline payment processes in Europe.

Mike Hampson, head of financial institutions for transaction banking at ABN Amro, said it makes sense for European banks to work together in this way as opposed to developing their own individual systems.

VocaLink processes around 90 per cent of UK salaries and 15 per cent of European automated payments, dealing with more than eight billion transactions per year.