BNP Paribas and BPCE Partner to Create Payment Processor

BNP Paribas and BPCE have partnered to create a payment processor that would handle all card payments from the two banks in Europe and could also be opened to other banks.

With 17 billion transactions from BNP Paribas and BPCE alone, the processor would be the No. 1 processor in France, and the two banks aim to make it a Top 3 processor in Europe, they said in a Thursday (June 13) press release.

Together with this partnership, BNP Paribas and BPCE have signed an exclusive agreement to create this business model as a joint venture, according to the release.

“With this new industrial partnership project, in line with our next strategic plan, we are taking an important step towards accelerating innovation in payments in the coming years,” BPCE CEO Nicolas Namias said in the release.

BNP Paribas Director and CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said in the release: “Given that the increase in card transactions is exponential, our ambition for this processor is to create a device that is efficient and scalable across all our European locations.”

The partnership of the two banks aims to respond to the digitalization of payment systems, the virtualization of debit cards and the promotion of instantaneous transactions, according to the release.

It builds upon the existing partnership between BNP Paribas and BNPE within Partecis, which develops payment processing software and which they intend to grow into a payment processor operating on an international level, the release said.

With the expanded partnership, they plan to create a common processor with a technological platform that encompasses operations, back-office activities and development and is capable of integrating technological standards, digitalization and other innovations, per the release.

The new joint venture will compete against Nexi and Worldline, Reuters reported Thursday.

Its creation comes at a time when Crédit Agricole is forming a joint venture with Worldline to provide payment services in France, the report said.

That partnership, announced in April 2023, leverages Worldline’s expertise in in-store and online capabilities for merchants with Crédit Agricole’s “strong distribution networks” through its system of banks, the companies said when announcing their joint venture.