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IStock / City Presse

In the digital age, payment options are constantly innovating to make financial transactions easier.

A new tool of its kind is emerging, it is the

Request to Pay

, or RTP.

A data exchange protocol making it possible to initiate a claim, while integrating various information.

Decryption.

The 2.0 transfer

From a purely technical point of view, the RTP makes it possible to improve the modalities of the traditional bank transfer, as explained Pierre Lahbabi, managing director of Galitt.

This specialized company supports financial, merchant and industrial establishments in the transformation of their payment services and, as such, participated in the development of a White Paper presenting the benefits and uses of this solution.

“Today, to make a transfer, it's up to you to enter the recipient's details, in other words their IBAN, in your bank's form to start the operation.

The

Request to Pay

reverses the logic since it is up to the individual, the professional or the institution that wants to be paid to send his request for payment through a dedicated device, while the payer only has to 'to validate it to authorize it.

"

Customers and professionals benefit

Take the example of electricity bills, the children's canteen or condominium fees.

For simplicity, a good number of households go through an automatic debit… at the risk of sometimes being in the red.

"Conversely, with RTP, you would have more visibility and control since you would receive a payment request for each transaction and could choose to settle at a specific later date or why not stagger it", details Pierre Lahbabi.

The invoice or receipt could be attached to the request, so you can take a look before authorizing the payment and then archiving it.

It can also be a solution to pay your monthly rent.

Simpler than a manual transfer, it would remind you of your duty every month.

And more flexible than a direct deposit, it would prevent you from going overdraft when your salary has exceptionally fallen one day too late.

Craftsmen who work at home could also find their account with this tool replacing the use of checks, cash and mobile payment terminals.

Thanks to a dedicated smartphone application, they could send their invoice to their customer and obtain validation in a secure manner.

A service by 2022

While

Request to Pay

is not yet operational, its development is on track.

In December 2020, the European Payment Concil, the body bringing together payment players at the level of the European Union, published the first technical specifications aimed at framing and standardizing this protocol.

More detailed additional work is expected in 2021. It will then be a question of seeing when and how the banks will take up this payment option, in order to integrate it into their commercial offer.

"There is still some way to go, confirms the CEO of Galitt, but we can imagine the implementation of the first dedicated services in 2022."

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