Development and execution of a pan-European payments utility
Transaktionsinstitut is a leading, third-party service-provider in the European payments processing market. It processes more than three billion payment transactions per year (5% of the European market, 16% of the German market) and is well positioned for further growth in Europe.
Despite the traditionally high fragmentation in the German banking sector, payment divisions of the cooperative central banks had evaluated the option of joining forces in this important service area, vis-à-vis almost 1,500 cooperative banks.
Challenge
A group of two central banks asked A.T. Kearney to assist them in developing a blueprint for a payments utility. This payments utility would not only serve the cooperative banking sector in Germany, but also other banks within and outside the German banking market. Beyond traditional strategy development, the project included a strong change management component. This component became even more important when the two sponsoring banks decided to merge and become one bank.
Approach
A.T. Kearney supported the bank throughout the entire project, from blueprint development to the establishment of the new entity. The conceptual development shifted gradually to a program management role, ensuring continuity of knowledge and a smooth transition of all tasks to a line responsibility.
A.T. Kearney provided support on numerous issues including:
- Payments market analysis and projection for Germany and Europe
- Blueprint, business model, and business planning
- Product catalogue and pricing
- Technology and migration planning
- Service level agreements
- Due diligence and joint venture negotiations
Results
Today, Transaktionsinstitut is owned primarily by this German bank (95% and Belgian KBC 5%). It is one of the two biggest payment utilities in Germany and the only one active across borders.
Together with its strategic partner KBC/Fin-Force, the bank was the first one to be prepared for the Single European Payments Area (SEPA).
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