Experian Announced by RBS to Provide Global Payment Validation

WARWICKSHIRE, ENGLAND, October 28, 2010 (Press-News.org) Experian, the global information services company, announced that it has been selected by RBS to provide a range of global payment validation and data conversion services to the bank's corporate customers. The agreement enables RBS' corporate customers to make SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) compliant payments and ensure payments reach the correct beneficiaries anywhere in the world.

As the migration to SEPA services gathers pace, banks and their corporate customers will no longer be able to use domestic Basic Bank Account Numbers (BBANs) in their domestic and cross-border euro payments. Failing to submit payment details in the correct format may incur additional charges plus additional fees for correcting the information. Using Experian's Data Conversion service, RBS' corporate customers will be able to check and cleanse bank account details in bulk and then convert them from domestic BBANs into the required International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) and corresponding BICs for all domestic and international payments under SEPA. This will also enable corporates to improve the Straight-Through-Processing of payment instructions and benefit from lower cost Euro payments.

Capturing the correct beneficiary bank account and payment routing information for processing cross-border and international payments can be time-consuming and costly. Bank Wizard, Experian's global validation software, allows RBS corporate customers to instantaneously validate account details and find the correct Bank Identifier Code (BIC) in up to 228 countries and territories worldwide. Using Bank Wizard, RBS' corporate customers will reduce the costs and delays associated with reprocessing failed payments, whilst at the same time improving customer service levels. Corporates will also find payment routing more effective by moving away from higher cost wire payments to lower cost SEPA payments or ACH payments, worldwide.

Wilco Dado, head of Global Payments at RBS, commented: "Through Experian we will be able to provide our customers with a range of services that allow them to mitigate against the cost and risk associated with continual changes in the global payments market. This new service will allow our corporate customers to validate and convert bulk data files and to validate bank account data at the point of data entry. As a result, customers will be able to successfully route payments via SEPA or other routing mechanisms, whilst completing any missing information required for worldwide payments."

Jonathan Williams, Director of Strategic Development at Experian Payments, added: "This new service will provide RBS' corporate customers with IBAN Validation and a valid BIC for each SEPA transaction and deliver payment information in the appropriate format for destination countries, globally. As a result, organizations can optimise their payment and settlement mechanisms and replace often costly and inefficient legacy processes."

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 90 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

About Experian Payments
Experian Payments develops global strategic payment software and services to meet the requirements of the world's leading banks and corporate organisations. Focussing on the specific challenges of data validation, payment validation and payment processing, Experian Payments' platform-independent software and services help organisations control costs, reduce risks and improve customer service through the minimisation of payment errors. Experian Payments has over 1,000 customers across all sectors of industry and commerce. Experian Payments is a division of Experian.

Website: http://www.experianpayments.com/