By Credit Agricole S.a. And Equens, PRNE
PARIS and UTRECHT, The Netherlands, November 25 - Based on a common vision of strategic developments in the European card
and payment processing sector, Crédit Agricole S.A. and Equens SE have signed
an exclusive agreement to explore the possibility of aligning their payment
platforms to become a major payment services provider in Europe.
With a combined volume of over 15 billion transactions, Equens and
CEDICAM, the payment processing and systems subsidiary of Crédit Agricole
S.A. and the 'Caisses Régionales', would be the leader in the European
market.
The realisation of this major payment service provider is based on three
key ideas:
Combining volumes and developing synergies to lower unit processing costs
Fostering growth dynamics from a unique position as a European leader
offering technical and commercial expertise and broad regional coverage
Sharing expertise that benefits the entire product chain
The objective is to conclude the negotiations in 2010. The signature of a
final agreement will be subject to consultation with the relevant employee
representation groups and to the approval of the relevant regulatory
authorities.
Jean-Yves Hocher, Deputy CEO of Credit Agricole S.A., says: "We are
facing major challenges within the rapidly changing European landscape. By
discussing a partnership with Equens to become the pan-European card and
payment processor, we will be able to combine expertise, technology, in-depth
knowledge and the processing of several billion transactions to serve our
network. This is fully in line with Crédit Agricole's strategy to build
industrial partnerships with banks."
Michael Steinbach, Chairman of Equens' Board of Directors says: "The
intended cooperation with CEDICAM is a major next step forward in our
strategy to become the premier pan-European processor. It will enable us to
further increase our scale, geographical presence and product offering for
the benefit of our current and future clients and shareholders, like ABN
AMRO, DZ BANK, ICBPI, ING and Rabobank."
Note to editors:
About Crédit Agricole
Crédit Agricole is France's number one banking organisation, serving 28%
of the country's households, and operating across the entire spectrum of
banking and finance. It serves 58 million individual customers across the
world and has built a network of 11,850 branches in more than 20 countries.
Crédit Agricole is the largest retail bank in Europe in terms of income from
retail banking. It is the leader in France, ranks third in Europe, and ninth
worldwide in terms of Tier 1 capital (The Banker 2009). The group operates in
70 countries and has more than 160,000 employees worldwide.
About CEDICAM
CEDICAM is the payment processing and systems subsidiary of Crédit
Agricole S.A. and the 'Caisses Régionales'. It operates primarily in the
domains of electronic banking, payment and card processing, and security of
payments. Within the Crédit Agricole group, CEDICAM combines expertise to
further develop processing activities on a European scale.
For additional information on Crédit Agricole and CEDICAM, please visit
www.credit-agricole.com
About Equens
Equens SE is the first pan-European, full-service payment processor. As
one of the largest payment processors in Europe, it leads the market for
future-proof payment and card solutions. Thanks to an extensive and
competitive range of services, the company seamlessly meets the requirements
and wishes of the European payments market. Equens supports the development
of a single, uniform European payments market (SEPA), and is dedicated to the
standardisation and harmonisation of European and global payments. With
clients and partnerships in multiple European countries, it offers
pan-European market coverage from offices in four countries - the
Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Finland. And with an annual processing volume
of 8.9 billion payments and 3.2 billion POS and ATM transactions, Equens SE
has a European market share of more than 12.5%. The shares in Equens SE are
held by DZ BANK, ING, ABN AMRO Bank, Rabobank, ICBPI and Fortis (NL)
For additional information on Equens, please visit www.equens.com
For additional information on Crédit Agricole and CEDICAM, please contact: Crédit Agricole S.A., Stéphane Petibon, +33(0)1-57-72-46-63, Stephane.petibon at credit-agricole-sa.fr; For additional information on Equens, please contact: Marcel Woutersen, +31(0)30-283-54-27, +31(0)629-05-08-71, Jörg Richter, +49(0)69-589993-60362, +49(0)172-6139597
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