Two FinTech companies are the first of their kind to gain accreditation for Faster Payments’ access through the New Access Model.
The distinction from U.K.’s Faster Payments was given to FIS and PayPort by VocaLink, which have been awarded the new certificate of technical accreditation. To do so, the companies passed the necessary tests to cover the origination and receipt of payments by a direct participant of Faster Payments.
“Our new technical accreditation service marks another big step forward in leveling the playing field for access to the world-leading Faster Payments service, by stimulating the market for FinTechs offering services through our New Access Model,” said Craig Tillotson, CEO of Faster Payments.
“The launch of this service is the latest demonstration of the traction being achieved by the Faster Payments access program. We are delighted that two vendors have already achieved the accreditation standard; with several more close to completion, a competitive market for technical aggregation services is assured to swiftly become a reality,” he continued.
The accredited companies are expected to be joined over the next few months by at least four other FinTechs, which are competing to offer services to more than a dozen interested payment service providers. Faster Payments noted that a number of banks are also lined up to connect directly in 2016.
This particular accreditation process was conducted with a newly created cloud-hosted technical accreditation service that allows aggregators to complete end-to-end accreditation tests in 15 minutes. This aligns with Faster Payments’ overall agenda of simplifying access to the scheme.
“The creation of the technical accreditation service is a very positive step taken by Faster Payments. FIS is naturally pleased to be one of the first FinTechs to have successfully passed accreditation and to now have tangible acknowledgement of the functional compliance of our product,” said Marc Terry, managing director of EMEA for FIS.
The Faster Payments access program also is expected to extend the reach of real-time payments to millions more consumers and businesses.
“VocaLink are committed to supporting the move towards a more open and efficient payments market that will benefit consumers, businesses and the U.K. economy as a whole. PayPort’s technical accreditation is a key step on the journey towards achieving Faster Payments access for all financial institutions, regardless of size. In addition, we are very proud to be one of the first FinTech companies to be awarded the certification, after passing what was a very rigorous technical accreditation,” said Jim Wadsworth, product director at VocaLink.
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