At Sibos 2005 Copenhagen, Microsoft Corp. today announced that it is working with Unisys to deliver a common European platform to help financial institutions better manage cross-border payments operations. Based on Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2004, EBA Link is currently implemented at a number of financial institutions in and Hungary. The solution grew from work done by Interpay Nederland, a top-three European payment processor located in the Netherlands, to clear high-volume, low-value payments. It provides a fast and cost-effective service for cross-border payments.

The move to a pan-European payments system has been outlined by the European Payments Council (EPC) to encourage more efficient, faster and easier payments processing on the continent. Through EBA Link, Unisys will leverage the latest Microsoft technologies, such as Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 and Microsoft BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT, to help provide a cost-effective, easy-to-maintain and flexible solution for financial institutions connecting to EBA’s clearing and settlement systems. The solution provides payment services via STEP2 and is currently the only Pan European Automated Clearing House (PE-ACH)-compliant service as defined by the EPC. It can address individual routing requirements that enable smooth migration to a single European payment area (SEPA) and provides highly flexible and scalable connectivity to STEP2.