Page 2 - Eurogiro News Feb 2013

2 Eurogiro News

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the payments network of commercial banks.

The first project to be realised was ‘Eurogiro’,

a network, a company and a payment concept

with fixed maximum speed and transparent

charges. Target customers were private, cor-

porate and the public alike. The services were

competitive because they were taking advan-

tage of the most modern network technology,

new principles of efficient handling of

mass-payments and competitive customer

prices. The European Commission was

pleased and welcomed Eurogiro as fully living

up to its expectations.

Changing markets were the drivers

Demands from law makers, in particular from

within the EU, pressure from competing banks

and opportunities arising from new technolo-

gy, together with globalisation of clients, have

shaped the needs of Eurogiro members during

these 20 years. Their needs translated into

work mandates for Eurogiro and eventually the

Eurogiro members gained in market share and

profitability from their connection to Eurogiro.

With the advent of the Euro, and especially

SEPA, making Europe a domestic market, the

cross-border element of the payments’ busi-

ness for the founding members has become

less important to their core business. Eurogiro

provided global reach, initially to Eastern

Europe, but soon there was a need to expand

across the globe to continue to create value. At

the same time, many of the founding organisa-

tions became fully-fledged banks with access

to a banking infrastructure and some have

merged into larger commercial banks and left

the community. The shareholder and member

base gradually changed and Eurogiro became

‘more than Europe, more than EUR’.

Eurogiro Milestones

The initial 14 European member countries

have grown into over 50 countries, spanning

every continent. Members are more diverse

than posts and postbanks, the services and

product portfolio have increased, partnerships

have been forged and new technologies used.

Throughout its history, Eurogiro has remained

true to its dedication to low-cost processing

and high quality, joint development and crea-

ting business opportunities for members.

Essential milestones include:

>

Global Reach:

The long term goal is

expansion in geographical coverage

to cover the globe for any type of

payment transaction. When a Eurogiro

member can reach any client anywhere

in the world using the Eurogiro network

that goal is achieved. We are not quite

there yet. But with connection to the

largest branch network in the world -

the post office network of Eurogiro

members - and to the accounts of

billions of citizens, much of the ground

work has been covered. Eurogiro has

65 members today and is focusing on

expanding its member base.

>

Partnerships:

Western Union was the

first Eurogiro partner and this long-term

relationship has created tremendous

business opportunities for Eurogiro

members, as well as for Western

Union and Eurogiro. Other partnerships

have brought great value to members

such as SWIFT, which enables banking

members to reduce the costs of their

SWIFT connection and piggyback for

Eurogiro payments. And the UPU partner-

ship has resulted in the link for Postal cash

payments. Even partnerships that proved

temporary, such as with the FED and Visa,

have boosted the position of Eurogiro

and our members. Eurogiro remains open

to partnerships as a way of expanding its

scope of product and reach.

>

Joint agreements and commitments:

Eurogiro has set a particular mark on

how joint products and joint agreements

can be made. We were the first to make

fixed agreements on product speed and

cost within cross-border payments.

Eurogiro was first with comprehensive

service level agreements, resulting in

exceptionally good straight-through

rates and was first with joint settlement

services for key currencies.

Most recently, the MultiLateral Frame-

work has set new standards for joint

agreements, whilst allowing competition

and flexibility for participants. All the

while, the services cover most of the

needs of modern payment handlers. It is

essential to Eurogiro to keep it that way.

>

On the edge of technology:

The

aspiration for efficiency and security

and the pressure on costs have forced

Eurogiro to adopt new technology from

the outset. Authentication, network

security and bulking of payments for

automation were part of the initial set-up.

Later came embracing Internet as a

secure channel for transactions. This was

supported by a unique security organisa-

tion to ensure a highly reliable operation.

1989

The working group

”Group de Paris” worked

out the concept of

Eurogiro network

1993

Foundation of

Eurogiro A/S

(A/S equal to Ltd.)

1994

First Member outside

Europe: Japan Post

(Now Japan Post Bank)

1998

Partnering with

Western Union for

Urgent Cash

2002

Launch of automated

settlement solution

for EUR (ESSP)

2003

Launch of Eurogiro

Cash International

®

(ECI

®

)

2006

Launch of automated

settlement solution for

USD (USSP)

2007

Eurogiro opened

office in Singapore

2009

Launch of the

MultiLateral Framework

(MLF)

2012

Eurogiro – UPU

Interconnection opened

for live traffic

2010

Launch of SMS

notification and Multi-

Currency Settlement

solution (MCSSP)