services for cards and payments annual report 2011

services for cards and payments annual report 2011

annual report 2011 Foreword Outstanding payment services to support our customers development. The image that its customers have of a bank primarily depends on the quality, availability, and price of its day-to-day banking services, including its payment services. Innovation, ease of use, access to the service, and the availability and continuity of the service are all factors that contribute to the quality of the customer relationship. Moreover, payments are a competitiveness factor and a liquidity enhancer, at the heart of the bank s economic model. Lastly, payments are an industrial business that is highly technological and has specific regulations, that requires substantial expertise and strong investment abilities, and where critical mass has now become a genuinely determining operating factor. Bernard Noël Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments. Jean-Christophe Kiren Chairman of Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments, and Head of Crédit Agricole S.A. s Payment Systems and Flows Unit. The development of new services, superior operating performance, competitiveness, and critical mass are precisely Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments advantages. On March 21 st, 2012, 40 years after it was founded, CEDICAM made way for Payments. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments, which was originally solely intended for the processing of payments from Crédit Agricole Group, now aims to offer its services and expert knowledge of the European markets to any players who would like to benefit from its payment platform s rich functionalities, superior operating performance, expertise, and competitiveness. 02 03 A history, a future 40 years of expertise at the service of the Crédit Agricole Group CEDICAM was the result of the Group s desire to pool its requirements in order to create an expert payment resource. 1972 - Founding of CEDI (Centre for exchanging data and information). 1980 - CEDI becomes CEDICAM, and its scope is broadened in order to ensure management of the Group s means of payment. 1981 - All the regional Banks, and Unicrédit formally join CEDICAM. 2007 - The Group decides to invest in building a European industrial platform, which is entrusted to CEDICAM. 2008 - Launch of the project aimed at building the Group s Payments platform. A new status, a new brand Ambition 2014 : the corporate initiative The corporate initiative, which has been christened Ambition 2014, was drawn up via a participative approach that involved the Company s employees. The corporate initiative intends to emphasise: a calling: to drive the Company s customers competitiveness and expansion through its expertise and performance. an ambition: to be recognised as a standard-setting player, and to rank among the European market leaders, thanks to an ambitious expansion programme. Payments, which had been an Economic Interest Group (EIG) up until this point, has changed its status, in order to become a trading company. To support this change of status, and to gain a favourable market position, the Company has given itself a new brand name: Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments. This new brand fulfils the Company s desire to express its membership of the Crédit Agricole Group, the nature of its business and services, and its European ambitions in a clear way.

04 annual report 2011 The performance of a state-of-the-art European platform As from February 1st, 2014, European payments (SCT and SDD) will need to comply with SEPA (Single European Payment Area) standards. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments has built a platform that is unique in Europe in order to anticipate this change. The Crédit Agricole Group chose to invest in a cutting-edge payment information system that was able to meet the technical, legal, and financial requirements arising from this major regulatory development, as early as 2007. Today, this early move enables Payments to offer its customers a state-ofthe-art platform that is compliant with SEPA requirements. Due to its size and to its ability to handle 05 Our volumes in 2011 1.1 133 billion card authorisations. billion euros processed as part of cash management. 7.7 67 billion transactions. million SWIFT messages exchanged. > A FLEXIBLE PLATFORM THAT IS INTENDED TO MEET A STRONG INCREASE IN VOLUMES extremely high volumes, regardless of the country where the payments are made, the platform provides very broad coverage of the payment processing value chain. customer, thereby guaranteeing data segregation within the information system. > A CENTRALISED MULTIBANK PLATFORM > A SCALABLE PLATFORM > A CROSS-BORDER PLATFORM WITH A EUROPEAN DIMENSION To keep the time required between developing cuttingedge solutions and implementing them within our customers systems as short as possible. The services can be scaled within an international context (multilingual, multi-currency, etc.). The platform can be connected to all European Solutions are designed to meet the specific expectations of each bank: activation of the services is calibrated according to each > A HIGHLY AVAILABLE AND SECURE PLATFORM industry platforms, and meets the requirements of a large number of domestic and international regulations. Olivier Biton Head of the Research and Schemes Department. Innovating so as to respond to market requirements.»

annual report 2011 06 07 A comprehensive, superior offering Payments leading position in the French market is the result of its determination to adapt its offering to the expectations of a changing market. It therefore offers each customer solutions that are designed according to several requirements, i.e. global and adjustable solutions, that are both high-quality and cutting-edge. A comprehensive, scalable offering Payments appears to be one of the rare payment processors in Europe, if not the only one, to offer an end-to-end offering, on a single and centralised stateof-the-art platform that complies with SEPA standards. As part of the overhaul of its information system, Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments approach is therefore not just to comply with the rules, but actually to offer superior solutions on a European scale. Via its high valueadded platform and business services, Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments simplifies the customer s processes and experience, in terms of both a comprehensive insourcing offering, and a specific answer to a given requirement. A cutting-edge offering Simpler, more mobile, and more reliable: the world of payments is undergoing profound changes. In order to support its banking or key account customers in these changes, and to meet these new requirements Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments is developing cutting-edge products, and is taking part in experiments involving all means of payment (light EPT, multi-application cards, and no-contact cards, etc.). The Company has also taken part in several initiatives aimed at meeting the challenges of tomorrow s payments (biometric authentication, payment by mobile phone, and green bank cards, etc.). Guaranteeing the highest level of quality Payments has created and developed resources and processes that aim to ensure the availability, superior performance, and reliability of its services, with a high level of operating requirements. To achieve this aim, Electronic banking Card customisation (bank and private cards). Acceptance and Payment Terminals (EPT, light EPT). e-payment and m-payment. Acquiring and authorisation hosts. Payment and withdrawal systems. Retailer and cardholder back-office. Key 2011 performance data 100% Availability of the authorisation hosts. < 0.21 Average response time, in seconds, of the authorisation hosts. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments offering Preventing and handling bank card fraud. Securing payments over the Internet. Combating cyber-crime. Certifying and authenticating electronic signatures. Payments is setting up service agreements with its customers, which come with operating indicators and monthly reports. These are a key control tool, which guarantee its customers that service quality will be maintained. From an operating standpoint, the platform is operated over a highly available infrastructure, which is monitored seven days a week, 24 hours a day. It is housed in the Group s new data center, known as Greenfield, Intra- or inter-bank clearing and transfers. SDD and SCT processing. Access to the SWIFT messaging service. International or high-value transfers. Cash management. Risks and security Flow management one of the largest IT centres in Europe, which is exemplary in terms of its performance and security. In the regulatory area, Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments is heavily involved in drawing up the standards applicable to processing services, alongside the industry supervisory bodies. This situation enables the Company to offer its customers the highest level of compliance, and of capacity for anticipating future developments.

annual report 2011 08 09 Our service offering Electronic banking, transaction processing, risks and security Payments offers a comprehensive range of payment services. Bruno Cattoz Head of Card Delivery Services. Reconciling an industrial view and a tailor-made approach.» Electronic banking From payments to withdrawals, and including card authorisations, and even their customisation, Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments operates across the entire electronic banking service range. In addition, with 7.5 million cards customised in 2011, the Company is the French market leader in this segment. Bank card customisation. Payments offers a full bank card customisation service, including buying the materials and electronic components, setting up the functionalities, personalising the customer data, and delivery. The Company also offers tailor-made cards, like affinity cards, which enable banks to offer their customers related services (loyalty points, customer benefits, and promotional campaigns, etc.). Payment terminals. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments offers its customer banks the opportunity to provide their retailers with electronic payment terminals (EPTs) that are appropriate for their business and to various possible cash collection conditions (mobile or sedentary). It also offers a light EPT, which provides a broader range of services for retailers (payment in several instalments, loyalty programmes, and gift cards, etc.) and also makes their day-to-day management easier. The EPT is connected to a dedicated Internet portal; it informs the retailer of the transactions performed at each of their tills, and offers them an archiving process for the receipts issued. A comprehensive range of electronic banking infrastructure. Our comprehensive range of infrastructure is exhaustive (acquiring and authorisation hosts, payment and withdrawal systems, and retailer and cardholder back-office), and is therefore able to handle all the transactions performed via bank cards (on the retailer s premises or via automated teller machines), as well as the financial transactions relating to these transactions. Adaptable solutions. Back-office, front-office, inter-bank processing: all processing transactions are covered. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments offering is adaptable, and also enables its customers to choose solutions that are appropriate for their own system. By connecting the payment protocol that they use to their own platform, they benefit from the effectiveness of a responsive and superior system in a transparent way. Or by entrusting us with full management of their automated payment system, they enjoy solutions that simplify and optimise their operations. This scalable offering has been refined in order to meet the specific expectations of each customer, and guarantees them full support at attractive prices. Flow acquisition and processing Payments processes around 30% of retail transactions in France. Its recognised expertise and tried and tested IT systems, at the cuttingedge of technology, enable the Company to handle tens of millions of messages every day. Payments offering covers the full range of clearing-related transactions. The volume of the messages processed, the very high availability of the platform, and high value-added business services are the main advantages of its comprehensive offering. Comprehensive transaction management coverage. Electronic banking, cheques, payments, transfers and withdrawals: the Company can process all of its customers transactions. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments is involved during the three stages of interbank exchanges (exchange, clearing, and settlement) and at two levels (transactions within the Crédit Agricole Group, and transactions outside the Group). In so doing, Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments guarantees access to various international Sophie Giorgi Head of Pooling, SWIFT and Acquisitions. Successfully accelerating and securing transactions.» Coline Robert Head of the Automated Teller Machines Initiative. Meeting security, quality, and reliability requirements.»

10 annual report 2011 Michel Azard Head of the SWIFT services offering. Building an available and secure messaging system.» Céline Martin Quality Engineer. Improving our ability to resolve issues on an ongoing basis.» payment systems, including ABE, Core, MasterCard, Visa, and CUP, etc. Managing cash management. Companies that operate from several locations in France, in Europe, or internationally, can simplify their management and their cash positions by availing themselves of our cash management offering. This service enables the financial information generated by a company s various accounts to be collected at a single point (the pooling account). International or high-value transfers. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments manages an increasing number of transfers amounting to over 800,000 euros made between banks via the Target 2 System, which is managed by the European Central Bank. SWIFT messaging and SWIFTNet access services. Our SWIFT access platform, which is operational 24 hours a day, guarantees the completely secure delivery of settlement messages between banks, as well as foreign exchange, securities, and letters of credit transactions. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments also provides archiving services relating to the processing of these messages, as well as their filtering, as required by financial security regulations. Aside from single messages, SWIFT now also enables companies to exchange statements or transaction files with their banks. SWIFTNet, one of the two file exchange systems recommended as a successor to ETEBAC by the industry, is generating strong demand from corporate customers. Risks and security To combat fraud, Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments is constantly innovating, in order to guarantee its customers a high level of security at each stage of their transactions. Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments platform, which has the capacity to 11 process 1,000 transactions per second, cross-checks information, and analyses the use of each bank card in real time. This means that the platform can identify suspected fraud very quickly, in order to enable the bank to warn the cardholder, and to take all necessary measures. In addition to a cutting-edge software solution, the Company s offering relies on internal expertise that is recognised in terms of combating fraud. The Payments offering is based on four focus areas: preventing and handling electronic banking fraud, by making prevention, warning management and compromised card monitoring tools available. securing payments over the Internet, via various solutions that enable a reduction in fraud relating to the use of bank cards over the Internet. combating cyber-crime. This offering, which is available 24 hours a day, and seven days a week, is aimed at preventing fraud in Internet banking services, via anticipating, detecting, and analysing attacks, and assisting customers via appropriate assessments and measures in the event of a genuine warning. certificates and electronic signatures. Payments is a Certification Authority, approved by the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance. The Company has therefore received approval to deliver electronic certificates, and to provide technical support for this activity. It offers two kinds of certificates (CA-Certificate and CACertificate +). Crédit Agricole Cards & Payments also offers high value-added services in the electronic signature field. Matthieu Vavassori Head of Electronic Banking Risk Management. Managing risks and reducing their cost.»

Publishing manager: Jean-Luc Pothet Editorial manager: Christine Rodrigues Design and production: Photo credits: Jérôme Bonnet, Getty Images All persons represented in this report are employees of Payments. Payments Head Office: 83, boulevard des Chênes BP 48 78042 Guyancourt Cedex Business unit: 90, avenue Lanessan 69410 Champagne-au-Mont-d Or