Clear2Pay launches Open Payment Framework (OPF) for Microsoft environments

OPF’s generic payments solutions now available on Microsoft Windows® technology

Brussels, 12 July 2007 – Today Clear2Pay, the international technology provider of next generation payment solutions for financial institutions announces the availability of its Open Payment Framework (OPF) and the generic payments solutions derived off this environment, such as the Bank Payment Hub and the Corporate Payment Hub for Microsoft infrastructures.

This way banks, their corporate clients and other payments service providers who have made the decision for a Microsoft environment, or are considering this option, may fully benefit from the core OPF features. By combining Clear2Pay’s Open Payment Framework (OPF) with Microsoft technology and products, banks can gain the same efficiency and increased Straight Through Processing rates with a more cost-effective and scaleable platform, thereby benefiting from lower processing costs and enhanced transparency. In addition banks who white-label the Corporate Payment Hub (an OPF derivative) can offer their corporate clients a low-cost, flexible and centralised enterprise payments processing environment which will greatly enhance corporate to bank connectivity. Above all, they will have a future-proof platform that enables them to react quickly and efficiently to fast changing market demands with maximum flexibility.

Mark Hartley, Vice President Strategy & Marketing at Clear2Pay states: “The Open Payment Framework (OPF) and its derivative solutions are all based on open standards, because banks and corporations must be able to choose whatever technology platform best fits their own requirements. At this moment we are indeed migrating a number of customers to a Microsoft environment. Enabling the OPF on top of the Microsoft platform extends the choice available to our customers and again proves the OPF is a truly open platform.”

Sheida Hadji-Ashrafi, Worldwide Industry Manager Payments at Microsoft adds: “The enterprise payments market is seeking flexible, open architecture solutions that are more adaptable to changing market demands. We are very pleased to see that Clear2Pay is utilising our technology and products such as Microsoft BizTalk Server® to provide its customers with a broader set of functionality for messaging, including message validation and transformation, business process orchestration and management, business activity monitoring and business rules management at price points that also help them stay ahead of the changing economics of the payments business.”

About Clear2Pay
Clear2Pay is an innovative financial technology company focused on delivering globally applicable solutions for secure, timely electronic payments. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, the company facilitates banks and financial organisations in their provision of payments services. Clear2Pay's technology helps to reduce transactions processing costs, and to deliver new, compelling payment services in a competitive way. Clear2Pay's payment solutions offer organisations easy, branded ways for their customers to pay online: from complex trade-supporting business-to-business environments, through e-commerce applications, to retail payments and remittance services. Functions embrace payments origination, reporting, linkage with back-office processing systems, clearing, netting and settlement. Clients include global and major regional financial institutions such as ING, SEB Kort, VISA, MasterCard, ABN AMRO, Nordea, Abbey National, Fortis Bank, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank. Clear2Pay operates out of Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, China and Singapore and currently employs 260 staff.
More information is available on www.clear2pay.com

About Open Payment Framework (OPF)
Clear2Pay offers world class solutions based on the Open Payment Framework (OPF). The OPF is a library of component building blocks from which payments solutions can be derived. The Open Payment Framework is built entirely on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) delivering common, reusable services consisting of a comprehensive data model, choreographed payment business processes and configurable services including parsing, validation, cost based routing, warehousing security, auditing and many more. From this core framework, Clear2Pay has created pre-defined solutions including the Bank Payment Hub, SEPA Direct Debit with Credit Transfers, Remittance and Faster Payments for the UK.
More info on the Open Payment Framework

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For more Clear2Pay information:

Clear2Pay NV/SA
Conny Dorrestijn - VP Marketing and Communications
E:
P: +32 15 79 52 00