French banking group, BNP Paribas, has extended its partnership with Worldline, tapping the French payments services provider’s open banking-based account validation technology to reduce International Bank Account Number (IBAN) fraud in Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Direct Debits (SDD) transactions.

SDD is an automated payment method used to clear one-off or recurring invoices in SEPA through a signed mandate. However, a report by the Bank of France highlights that fraudulent use of IBAN during an SDD mandate signature process accounts for over 60% of fraud in direct debits in recent years.

To address the situation, BNP Paribas Cash Management said it has adopted Worldline’s account validation solution into EasyCollect, the banking group’s existing white-label product for SDD management.

BNP Paribas Sets New Standard

According to the French banking giant, its integration of Worldline’s solution means that it is about to set a new standard in the processing of SDD payments.

“By combining the e-signature of SEPA mandates with account validation using Open Banking, Worldline enhances its SEPA Payment Suite and proposes an innovative extension, using Strong Customer Authentication and providing advanced security that eliminates the risk of IBAN misuse during the mandate signature process,” Worldline explained in a statement.

Additionally, Worldline noted that the new integrated solution provides a secure, low-risk payment method to businesses and merchants and offers “a better user experience” to consumers.

Worldline Consolidates Payments Business

Worldline, founded in 1974, says it powers the growth of over one million businesses around the world and generated €4.4 billion in revenue last year.

Finance Magnates reports that during the last quarter of 2022, the French payments service provider’s revenue grew 8.3% to €1.19 billion. The provider’s merchant services revenue also jumped 10.3% during the quarter.

In addition to its good financial standing, Worldline is consolidating its business. In January, Dutch international bank ING Bank N.V. tapped Worldline to handle its credit and debit card processing and issuing in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany.

Moreover, in November last year, Worldline agreed to acquire Italy’s Banco Desio’s merchant activities for $100 million. The firm said the move is in line with its strategy to expand its merchant services towards the South of Europe with a special focus on Italy.

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