ACI Worldwide Elected Co-Chair of nexo Standards’ Technical Steering Committee

Appointment of Bryan Croteau extends ACI’s commitment to driving acceptance interoperability in global card payments via nexo association

ACI Worldwide announced that Bryan Croteau, director, product management, has been elected co-chair of nexo’s Technical Steering Committee (TSC). The appointment reflects the global association’s mission to remove the barriers present in today’s fragmented global card payment acceptance ecosystem by harnessing the efficiency and interoperability potential of the ISO 20022 standard.

nexo’s messaging protocols and specifications adhere to ISO20022 standards, are universally applicable and freely available globally. The European Commission recently reaffirmed, in the final draft of the Regulatory Technical Standards for Strong Customer Authentication by the EBA, that the ISO 20022 messaging format is essential to optimising the interface between acquirers, payment service providers (PSPs) and acceptors such as merchants.

“It is an honour to be given the opportunity to take a leadership position within nexo and to advance universal payment interoperability standards,” said Croteau. “The nexo standards benefit stakeholders across the payments value chain, including merchants struggling to support numerous interface protocols and multiple certifications. Based on the nexo standardisation process, merchants will no longer need to support multiple proprietary payment interfaces, resulting in cost savings and the ability to rapidly bring to market new services and innovations.”

ACI has been at the forefront of championing the nexo messaging protocols and specifications, which enable fast, interoperable and borderless card payments by standardising the exchange of payment acceptance data between merchants, acquirers, PSPs and other payment stakeholders. nexo’s protocols and specifications are being adopted by a growing number of retailers and organisations across Europe, and are gaining traction globally.

“This is a really exciting time for nexo,” adds Arnaud Crouzet, General Secretary, nexo Standards. “Our specifications and protocols are now being deployed by a variety of stakeholders across the industry, including payment service providers, acquirers, acceptors, payment schemes and vendors. The Technical Steering Committee is instrumental in helping nexo to achieve its vision of creating a unified global card payments acceptance ecosystem, and we are delighted that Bryan has been elected co-chair. With his vast experience in the payments sector, together with his North American perspective, Bryan is well positioned to steer the technical focus of the association and help us meet our international objectives.”

Paul Thomalla, senior vice president, Corporate Relations and Development, ACI Worldwide joined the nexo executive board in June 2016, and the appointment of Bryan Croteau as co-chair of the TSC reinforces ACI’s commitment to nexo’s vision.