The European payments landscape is moving rapidly toward account-to-account innovation, and SEPA is at the heart of that shift. Against this backdrop, Luxembourg-based Yowpay and global white-label payment software provider Akurateco have formed a strategic akurateco yowpay that brings native SEPA account-to-account payments to Akurateco's payment platform.
This collaboration empowers PSPs, acquirers, banks, and enterprise merchants to activate fully managed SEPA A2A transfers directly inside their existing Akurateco environment. The result is a cost-efficient, scalable, real-time compatible alternative to card schemes for euro-denominated payments across the SEPA zone.
With SEPA already recognized as the second most used payment method in Europe, this integration is a powerful accelerator for payment providers and merchants seeking to grow their presence in the eurozone while controlling costs and improving conversion.
Why SEPA A2A Matters Now More Than Ever
SEPA, the Single Euro Payments Area, enables fast, standardized euro transfers between bank accounts across participating European countries. When leveraged for account-to-account (A2A) payments, SEPA transforms everyday commerce by moving funds directly between bank accounts, bypassing traditional card rails.
For PSPs and merchants, SEPA A2A is increasingly attractive because it typically offers:
- Lower processing costs compared to traditional card transactions.
- Real-time or near real-time settlement when combined with instant SEPA schemes.
- Broad customer reach across the eurozone, with bank account penetration higher than card usage in many markets.
- Flexible use cases covering C2B, B2B, recurring billing, subscriptions, and invoice payments.
By integrating Yowpay's SEPA orchestration into Akurateco's white-label platform, payment providers gain an end-to-end A2A solution that is modular, compliant, and ready for scale.
Who Are Yowpay and Akurateco?
Yowpay: SEPA A2A and Reconciliation Made Simple
Yowpay is a Luxembourg-based SaaS company focused on SEPA account-to-account payments and payment orchestration. The platform is designed to help businesses unlock the full value of SEPA by simplifying initiation, reconciliation, and reporting of euro-denominated transfers.
Key capabilities of Yowpay include:
- Business IBANs dedicated to each merchant and or end customer, enabling clear attribution of incoming payments.
- Multiple SEPA payment initiation channels, including QR codes, traditional manual bank transfers, and Open Banking flows.
- Automated reconciliation and reporting, dramatically reducing manual back-office effort.
- Support for both low-risk and high-risk merchant categories, extending SEPA A2A to a wider range of business models.
- A non-MoR (non-merchant-of-record) model with direct access to funds, so merchants receive settlements straight into their own bank accounts.
- A modular SEPA API that can be easily embedded into existing payment stacks and workflows.
By focusing on orchestration and reconciliation, Yowpay helps organizations improve cash flow speed, reduce operational overhead, and optimize acceptance rates for euro payments.
Akurateco: A Full-Scale White-Label Payment Platform
Akurateco provides a comprehensive white-label payment platform used by PSPs, enterprise merchants, and banks worldwide. Its technology enables payment providers to launch or modernize their processing capabilities under their own brand while maintaining granular control over risk and routing.
Akurateco's platform includes:
- Advanced payment orchestration for cards and alternative payment methods.
- Smart routing and cascading to optimize approval rates and reduce transaction failures.
- Centralized management of multiple card-acquiring MIDs, simplifying complex multi-acquirer setups.
- A wide hub of alternative payment methods (APMs) to address local preferences worldwide.
- Merchant management tools and performance analytics, giving PSPs clear oversight over portfolio performance.
- Secure infrastructure for international payment operations and regulatory compliance.
With a flexible architecture, Akurateco enables payment providers to scale globally while maintaining full control over risk, routing, reporting, and merchant lifecycle management.
Inside the Partnership: Native SEPA A2A Within Akurateco
Through this strategic partnership, Yowpay's SEPA orchestration layer is natively integrated into Akurateco's white-label payment platform. This means PSPs, acquirers, and enterprise merchants using Akurateco can activate SEPA transfers as a fully managed alternative payment method within their existing payment environment.
Instead of building their own SEPA infrastructure or juggling multiple third-party integrations, providers can plug into a ready-made, fully orchestrated SEPA A2A stack that aligns with their current workflows and dashboards.
How the Combined Stack Works in Practice
At a high level, the flow looks like this:
- The merchant or PSP configures SEPA A2A as a payment option inside the Akurateco environment.
- Customers at checkout are offered SEPA-based payment initiation methods such as QR code, bank transfer instructions, or an Open Banking flow.
- Yowpay's SEPA layer orchestrates the underlying transfer, associating it with a dedicated business IBAN to ensure the payment is uniquely identifiable.
- Once the transfer is executed, automated reconciliation matches the incoming funds with the correct order or invoice.
- Funds are received directly in the merchant's bank account under the non-MoR model, while Akurateco continues to handle orchestration, routing logic, and reporting at the platform level.
The result is a seamless SEPA payment experience that feels native both to merchants and to their customers.
Key Benefits for PSPs, Acquirers, and Merchants
The Yowpay–Akurateco partnership is designed around tangible business outcomes. Below are the core advantages it delivers to different stakeholders in the payments value chain.
1. Expanded APM Portfolio With a Complete SEPA A2A Layer
For PSPs and acquirers, the integration instantly enriches their alternative payment method portfolio. Instead of offering SEPA only as a basic bank transfer option, they can now provide a full-featured A2A layer that includes dedicated IBANs, multiple initiation channels, and automated reconciliation.
This allows providers to:
- Address merchant demand for modern account-to-account payments.
- Differentiate their offering from competitors that rely solely on cards.
- Provide a cohesive, white-labeled SEPA experience that feels fully integrated into their own platform.
2. A Cost-Efficient Alternative to Traditional Card Schemes
One of the most powerful drivers of SEPA adoption is cost. Card transactions often involve multiple intermediaries and scheme fees, while SEPA A2A transfers move funds directly between bank accounts.
By combining Yowpay and Akurateco, PSPs and merchants gain access to low-fee, real-time compatible euro payments. This can significantly reduce overall processing expenses, especially for high-value payments, recurring billing, or markets where card interchange and scheme costs are substantial.
| Aspect | Traditional Card Payments | SEPA A2A via Yowpay and Akurateco |
|---|---|---|
| Underlying rail | Card schemes | Bank account to bank account |
| Typical cost structure | Multiple scheme and interchange fees | Simplified, bank-transfer based pricing |
| Settlement | Dependent on acquirer and scheme rules | Aligned with SEPA settlement cycles, compatible with real-time schemes |
| Merchant access to funds | Via acquirer payout schedule | Direct to merchant account under non-MoR model |
| Suitability for high ticket B2B | May be costly for large transactions | Well suited due to direct account transfers |
3. Higher Conversion and Fewer Abandoned Transactions
SEPA payments are widely trusted and preferred in many European markets. By presenting familiar A2A options at checkout, merchants can:
- Increase customer confidence at the payment step.
- Reduce friction for users who prefer bank transfers over cards.
- Capture conversions that might otherwise be lost due to card declines, limits, or customer reluctance to share card details.
When combined with Akurateco's smart routing and orchestration, this expanded payment choice can translate into measurably higher approval rates and better checkout performance.
4. New C2B and B2B Revenue Opportunities for PSPs and Acquirers
The shift toward SEPA A2A is not just a technical upgrade; it is a revenue opportunity. With Yowpay's support for varied risk profiles and a non-MoR model, PSPs and acquirers can:
- Onboard new merchant categories that are better suited to bank transfers than cards, including certain high-risk or high-ticket verticals.
- Monetize C2B flows, such as e-commerce, digital goods, and services paid directly from customer bank accounts.
- Serve B2B use cases such as invoice payments, trade transactions, or recurring business subscriptions with lower friction and more predictable settlement.
Because the SEPA layer is fully managed by Yowpay and exposed through Akurateco's orchestration, providers can capture these opportunities without building SEPA infrastructure from scratch.
5. Streamlined Operations and Reduced Back-Office Work
A major challenge with bank transfers has traditionally been reconciliation. Matching incoming payments to the right customer or invoice can create a heavy manual burden for finance teams.
Yowpay addresses this with:
- Dedicated business IBANs that clearly identify the merchant or customer behind each transaction.
- Automated reconciliation and reporting tools that link payments to the correct orders or invoices.
Integrated into Akurateco's platform, these capabilities help PSPs and merchants cut down on manual reconciliation, minimize errors, and free up staff to focus on higher-value tasks.
Multiple Payment Initiation Options for a Better User Experience
Customer experience is critical at checkout, and one size rarely fits all. The Yowpay–Akurateco integration supports a range of SEPA payment initiation channels, so merchants can tailor the payment journey to their audience and use case.
- QR code initiation lets customers scan and confirm payment from their banking app, ideal for mobile-first experiences and in-person or hybrid flows.
- Manual bank transfer instructions provide a straightforward option for customers who are accustomed to initiating transfers directly from their online banking interface.
- Open Banking flows guide users through a streamlined, bank-integrated journey that combines strong authentication with convenience.
By offering these options, merchants can reduce friction and align payment flows with local preferences in each European market they serve.
Support for Varied Risk Profiles and Complex Use Cases
Not all merchants look the same from a risk and compliance standpoint. Some operate in low-risk, high-volume environments, while others handle higher-risk or niche business models that demand extra scrutiny from payment partners.
Yowpay's SEPA layer supports both low-risk and high-risk merchant categories, giving PSPs and acquirers the flexibility to extend A2A payments to a wider portion of their portfolio. Combined with Akurateco's risk controls, routing rules, and merchant management tools, this enables a nuanced approach that balances growth with responsible risk management.
A Future-Ready Payment Stack for European Growth
The partnership between Yowpay and Akurateco results in a resilient, modular, and scalable payment architecture designed for the next phase of European commerce. It is especially relevant for:
- European merchants processing significant volumes of euro-denominated payments.
- PSPs that want to expand their payment method portfolio and stay ahead of customer expectations.
- Acquirers and banks seeking new revenue streams and value-added services.
- International merchants entering the EU payments market who need SEPA-native capabilities from day one.
By joining forces, Yowpay and Akurateco provide a solution that is:
- Modern, leveraging the latest in payment orchestration and account-to-account technology.
- Compliant, aligning with SEPA standards and industry best practices.
- Modular, so providers can start with SEPA A2A and expand to other APMs and features over time.
What This Means for the Future of Euro Payments
As SEPA continues to grow in adoption and importance, the ability to offer seamless, reliable, and cost-efficient A2A payments will be a key differentiator for PSPs, acquirers, and merchants operating in Europe.
The Yowpay–Akurateco partnership addresses this need head-on, giving payment providers:
- A native SEPA A2A layer embedded into an established white-label platform.
- Tools to improve checkout performance and reduce payment-related friction.
- A clear path to new revenue and merchant segments through C2B and B2B SEPA flows.
For merchants, the benefits are just as compelling: lower fees, faster access to funds, higher conversion, and a payment experience that speaks directly to the preferences of European customers.
In a market where SEPA is already the second most used payment method in Europe, this strategic collaboration positions both Yowpay and Akurateco, along with their clients, at the forefront of the continent's evolving payments ecosystem.
