Experian and HVB Partner for SEPA Data Conversion
Experian, a global information services company, has partnered with HypoVereinsbank (HVB), one of the largest commercial banks in Germany, to provide the bank and its corporate customers with a data validation and conversion service to aid compliance with the latest single euro payments area (SEPA) standards.
To make payments to and from all 31 countries participating in the SEPA scheme, banks and their corporate customers must supply a valid International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and Bank Identifier Code (BIC). Currently, the data held by HVB’s customers is in a domestic format and will need converting to the new, SEPA-compliant format.
Experian will check, validate and convert existing domestic Basic Bank Account Numbers (BBANs) to the required IBAN and BIC standard in bulk. This will enable HVB’s customers to avoid rejection or failed payments, thereby reducing transaction costs and improving straight through processing of payment instructions. In addition, the bank’s customers will also be able to identify invalid records that require further or correct information to be obtained or verified, including invalid account numbers and closed bank branches.
Jonathan Williams, director of strategic development at Experian Payments, said: “Corporates may not realise that they, not the banks, are responsible for the conversion of their data to IBAN and BIC formats. However, this is hugely expensive and virtually impossible. Our partnership with HVB is enabling a growing number of the world’s largest businesses to make SEPA payments efficiently and cost-effectively while, at the same time, helping the bank to provide an additional service to its customers.”