FIS™ (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology, announced today that Societe Generale has chosen the FIS Payments-as-a-Service solution to offer real-time payments to corporate clients in nine European countries.

One of the leading financial services groups in Europe, Societe Generale wanted to take advantage of the emerging SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme for providing faster, more transparent payments processing for its corporate clients. An initiative of the European Payments Council, the SCT Inst scheme is designed to make payments faster and more convenient for businesses and consumers across Europe.

Societe Generale will use the FIS Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution to serve its corporate clients in Europe, except for France, through the SCT Inst scheme. Offered as a turnkey, managed solution, FIS PaaS enables financial institutions to cost-effectively connect to the SCT Inst real-time payments scheme with limited upfront investments.

“Our corporate clients are hungry for the speed, flexibility and improved liquidity enabled by real-time payments,” said Nicolas Cailly, Head of Payments & Cash Management Solutions at Societe Generale. “The FIS Payments-as-a-Service solution provided a proven, cost-effective platform for us to move to real-time payments and provide the benefits of the SCT Inst scheme to our clients across Europe.”   

“More financial institutions around the world are looking to take advantage of real-time payments for their customers,” said Bruce Lowthers, President, Banking Solutions at FIS. “By choosing a managed solution from FIS, leading organizations like Societe Generale can move more quickly to the future of payments, benefitting their customers and their own competitive edge.”

The FIS PaaS solution meets the requirements of the ISO20022 international payments standard related to all aspects of real-time payments processing, including reconciliation, settlement, Anti Money Laundry screen and other regulatory requirements. The solution supports a growing range of payment schemes covering batch and real-time payments such as SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst), Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) and Faster Payments System (FPS).