Few B2B eCommerce enterprises can readily execute high-value online payments.
Cards aren’t for that. In an interview, Tarik Zerkti, CEO of Paris-based financial services firm PRETA, a subsidiary of pan-European clearinghouse EBA Clearing, said, They know that the typical [limit] is around €1,500 and €3,000, so clearly [merchants] can’t utilize it in a commercial setting.
Zerkti said firms usually email invoices to accounting and use an ERP system to pay them, which may be cumbersome and time-consuming.
PRETA’s MyBank service, a pan-European account-to-account (A2A) solution, enabling eCommerce business-to-business (B2B) players and corporates to receive wire payments from clients without a restriction.
Zerkti said that MyBank streamlines end-to-end invoice reconciliation. “If you are a corporate that wants a straightforward process whereby payments received are formatted in a way that is Single Euro Payments Area [SEPA] compliant and can be entered directly into your accounting system for easy end-to-end reconciliation, [then MyBank helps you solve that].”
Not just enterprises profit. He said that users may pay through their online banking without having to register, create a new password, or input their payment credentials.
The objective is to be next to Visa, MasterCard or PayPal or any other payment method that is accessible on a merchant’s checkout page, he said, adding that once the MyBank option is selected, a user would be taken to their online banking site with the transaction data prefilled. After approving the rapid wire transfer, both parties will receive real-time payment confirmation.
“If you want to buy a €10,000 Louis Vuitton bag for yourself and you have that money in your account, you can pay without being [limited] by your credit card limit,” Zerkti added.
The system allows people and companies to securely and easily pay local and national public administration agencies, including taxes, penalties, tuition fees, and residential utilities like water, electricity, and gas.
“Again, if you have solutions like cards or wallets like PayPal, the market share is not high enough to reach all citizens. Not every citizen has a credit card. Not every citizen has a PayPal account,” Zerkti argued.
Open Banking Alternate
The European Union’s Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2open )’s banking policy allows non-bank third parties to access client account information through banks’ APIs, empowering customers to make educated account management decisions.
Zerkti said the technology is still a friction-filled procedure that requires third-party suppliers for payment.
“It’s between you and your bank,” he added, adding that unlike open banking, PRETA has a contract with every bank in the MyBank payment network, which makes a big difference for retailers.
“Today, open banking is actually a myriad of banks that have their own APIs, and as a merchant or [payment service provider] that wants to connect to all banks in Europe, it’s a nightmare because you have thousands of different connectivity methods that you have to maintain,” he pointed out.
MyBank provides a uniform technological approach to each bank in its network, which Zerkti said “of additional value for merchants, corporates, public authorities and their banks.”
Advancing
MyBank ended 2022 with a record transaction value exceeding €10 billion (approximately $10.68 billion), up 38% from 2021.
As MyBank celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023, Zerkti says this milestone shows that the solution remains a strong contender among payment platforms offering comprehensive end-to-end digital payment solutions. He said that this applies to B2C transactions in travel, luxury items, real estate, and automobiles.
Mercedes-Benz is one of 14,000 organizations and brands that have made MyBank available to their consumers, allowing dealers to receive a “compliance certificate” that allows them to sell a car to an end user and quickly pay for automobiles online via MyBank.
He said the business is not resting on its laurels and is adding additional participating acquiring banks and payment service providers (PSPs) to the MyBank payment network to add to the 70 new PSPs from 20 European nations it joined last year and grow into new European markets.
“We’re still missing a number of [key] acquirers on the market and we have to work hand in hand with the participating banks to bring them on board because the potential [of MyBank] has not yet been achieved on the B2B side and in the public administration domain,” Zerkti said.
