12 Years Ago: The First nexo Standards Transaction, a Milestone for European Payments: By Arnaud Crouzet

Finextra

a day ago

On June 5, 2013, a major step was taken towards the harmonization of card payments in Europe. I had the privilege of executing the very first live transaction based on the protocols and standards that would become nexo standards, in an Auchan store in Faches-Thumesnil, France, for a symbolic amount of €1.
This pioneering moment, realized in partnership with Ingenico and Crédit Mutuel-CIC, under the umbrella of the OSCar consortium, marked the first operational implementation of a universal card payment solution built on SEPA standards.
--> First SEPA card transaction – June 5, 2013 – France, using the French CB brand
From a Merchant's Vision: Solving Fragmentation in Payments
In 2012, I joined the OSCar consortium as the first merchant. Our goal was clear: overcome the fragmentation that plagued international merchants, who had to maintain different payment solutions for each country, leading to operational complexity and significant costs.
At the time, the lack of harmonization across card schemes forced merchants to adapt to local protocols, resulting in fragmented acceptance, complex technical setups, and high maintenance costs. For large retailers like Auchan, a standardized, pan-European solution promised major operational efficiencies.
The OSCar initiative, backed by key players such as American Express, Visa Europe, Mastercard Europe, GIE CB, Consorzio Bancomat, Ingenico, Verifone, Atos Worldline, and others, aimed to create this breakthrough by combining:
SEPA-FAST payment application (common terminal application)
payment application (common terminal application) EPAS ISO 20022 Acquirer protocol (standardized POS-to-acquirer communication)
From France to Europe: Proving Cross-Border Interoperability
Just three months after the first French transaction, the solution was successfully replicated in the Jumbo Paõ de Açucar store in Amoreiras, Lisbon.
This second live pilot confirmed the cross-border capabilities of the solution — no local adaptation was required. A single, unified payment application and protocol could now be deployed across different European countries, in line with the SEPA Cards Framework objectives set by the European Payments Council (EPC).
The pilot demonstrated:
No impact on customer experience: payment remained seamless at checkout.
on customer experience: payment remained seamless at checkout. Significant simplification of the technical architecture for merchants.
of the technical architecture for merchants. Interoperability across multiple domestic and international card schemes without cobadging constraints.
across multiple domestic and international card schemes without cobadging constraints. New opportunities for card issuers to extend their acceptance reach.
--> SEPA card transaction – September 30, 2013 – Portugal, using Visa and Mastercard brands
A Turning Point for the Entire Payment Ecosystem
This milestone had profound implications for all stakeholders:
Stakeholder
Benefit
Merchants
Simplified acceptance infrastructure, lower costs, faster innovation, cross-border reach
Banks / Acquirers
Standardized acquiring infrastructure, reduced integration costs, pan-European services
Domestic Card Schemes
Extended acceptance without dependency on international brands (e.g., no mandatory cobadging).
nexo standards also help domestic schemes to accelerate the deployment of new functionalities, thanks to the native integration of features already available internationally. For example, contactless acceptance and PIN Online have been supported in nexo protocols since the beginning, whereas some countries took over 10 years to roll them out.
International Schemes
Opportunity to simplify multi-country deployment, foster open competition
Solution Providers
Ability to offer standardized, scalable, SEPA-compliant solutions.
Reduced development and maintenance costs, easier multi-country deployments. A single solution deployable anywhere, for everyone.
Consumers
Faster, consistent, and secure payment experiences across Europe
The open, universal, and standardized approach also allowed merchants and acquirers to anticipate regulatory evolutions, notably around interchange fee regulations, brand choice obligations, and the broader European card payments harmonization agenda.
In particular, brand choice — mandated under PSD2 and its Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) — is natively supported by nexo protocols.
Merchants and consumers can select their preferred payment brand on co-badged cards. nexo integrates and configures brand selection flows in full compliance with regulatory obligations and with guidelines from the European Payments Stakeholders Group (EPSG), as specified in the SEPA Cards Standardisation Volume (Book).
Furthermore, brand choice is not only a European requirement: nexo standards enable merchants globally to address similar needs wherever brand selection is expected or mandated.
nexo Standards: From a Vision to a Global Reality
Following these first pilots, the initiative evolved rapidly:
EPASOrg transitioned to become nexo standards in 2014 .
transitioned to become . The initial protocols were refined, expanded, and formalized into a globally recognized suite of ISO 20022-based standards.
nexo protocols have since been adopted by major players across Europe and beyond — not only for card payments but also supporting mobile and QR Code-based payments. They are now evolving to incorporate Instant Payments, and will likely move to integrate the Digital Euro in the future.
Key Milestones:
Year
Evolution
2013
First live transaction (France), Cross-border validation (Portugal)
2014
Formal launch of nexo standards
2016
Publication of nexo Retailer Protocol for POS-to-ECR communication based on ISO20022
2018
Increased adoption in major payment infrastructures
2021
nexo standards began exploratory work on mobile acceptance and SoftPOS integration.
2022
Launch of nexo QR Code initiatives for dynamic merchant-presented QR acceptance
2024
Extension toward Instant Payment use cases
2025
Preparatory study on Digital Euro
nexo standards now used by leading retailers, acquirers, and solution providers globally
nexo standards protocols are now referenced in European regulatory frameworks and recognized by major payment organizations, reinforcing their position as a global standard for card and payment acceptance interoperability.
Looking Ahead: The Open Standard for the Future of Payments
Today, nexo standards is an established, open, flexible, and scalable framework. The standards are used in diverse environments, from traditional POS to SoftPOS and e-commerce acceptance. Initiatives are also exploring Instant Payment use cases based on nexo frameworks. It supports:
Interoperability across multiple payment types and acceptance environments — including in-store, e-commerce, SoftPOS, cards, mobile, and QR codes.
Work is actively underway to integrate Instant Payments use cases .
Discussions are also progressing toward the adoption of nexo standards for the future Digital Euro , already recognized by the European Central Bank (ECB) as a key technical framework.
across multiple payment types and acceptance environments — including in-store, e-commerce, SoftPOS, cards, mobile, and QR codes. Work is actively underway to . Discussions are also progressing toward the adoption of nexo standards for the , already recognized by the European Central Bank (ECB) as a key technical framework. Future-proofing with ISO 20022 compliance, worldwide migration to this modern structure providing flexibility for new and future services (cards, Instant Payment, CBDC, e-Invoicing, …).
with ISO 20022 compliance, worldwide migration to this modern structure providing flexibility for new and future services (cards, Instant Payment, CBDC, e-Invoicing, …). Innovation through standardized, open APIs and cloud-native architectures (in progress)
through standardized, open APIs and cloud-native architectures (in progress) Global reach with deployments in Europe, Africa, Americas, Middle East, Australia and Asia
By providing a common language for the industry, nexo standards empowers all players — merchants, banks, payment schemes, and technology providers — to build a more connected, efficient, and secure payments ecosystem.
Twelve years on, the journey continues — driving payments toward a more open, interoperable, and innovative world.
What started with a symbolic €1 transaction has grown into a global movement shaping the future of harmonized, secure, and innovative payments worldwide.