Sentenial is a Payments / FinTech (financial technology) company in the Cloud.

Sentenial provide cloud based payment management services to a wealth of different businesses and banks, particularly based around SEPA Direct Debit. Today, most banks and businesses use software platforms to process billions of Euros in payments each month by automatic and manual methods. However, Sentenial has been granted a Payment Institution (PI) license, so it can provide businesses with a much better and more efficient service than a banking institution.

Yes, this does mean that businesses don’t need banks anymore, since Sentenial has been granted a PI license, no banking institutions are required for payment processing. Additionally, by using Sentenial rather than a bank, businesses can benefit from much lower transaction fees and end-to-end tracking of transactions for automatic reconciliation.

Well, the banks lobbied against this change, but lost to the Commission. Generally banks will show little interest in assisting small businesses with good payment services and haven’t innovated in decades to offer an improved service for businesses valued below a certain threshold.

There are a wealth of benefits that this poses to businesses, but fundamentally, they can now receive a much more cost-efficient and satisfying service from a FinTech company which combines great software with access to clearing. The overall user experience with Nuapay is far better than what the banks offer.

Once your Nuapay account is set up and you have added your customers’ payment details, our automatic payment system will then process each transaction on the dates specified. When a payment has been made, you can be notified of which customers have/haven’t paid and the funds will be transferred directly from their account to your nominated business bank account. Nuapay simply and securely processes transactions, so the funds are never really held with us and are debited to your given bank account each day – or at your preferred time interval.

Pricing varies depending on the number of transactions that are typically processed each month, but Nuapay offers a reduced rate when compared to standard bank rates. Visit our Pricing page for further information or contact us to discuss higher volume pricing (over 100 transactions per month).

Nuapay is perfect for businesses wanting to collect recurring payments directly from customers’ bank accounts within the UK and Europe. Whether your business is an innovative start-up in its infancy, or an international corporation looking to streamline the management of regular payments, Nuapay can save you time and money.

Nuapay is ideal for any business that collects payments by Direct Debit. Whether you process 1 or 1,000,000 transactions each month, our solution is scalable. Saving both time and money by taking repeat payments with ease.

There are a host of benefits of using a Payment Institution over a bank, such as:

• Save Time – Reduce administration time
• Affordable – Much lower rates than banks and fixed transaction fee
• Simple – Easy to set up and manage
• Smart Updates – Identify and track problem payers
• Flexible – A solution that grows with your business
• Comprehensive – Full direct debit functionality
• Mature – Over 6 years of development and testing
• Scalable – Very large payment files are processed in a short time period
• Secure – Passed a multitude of security audits as demanded by banks
• Proven – Large organisations and major banks already use the Nuapay software
• Compliant – All relevant industry standards are adhered to

Nuapay’s integrated features are geared towards the efficient and straight forward management of recurring payments. Features include…

• One time set up to receive automatic payments – Whatever interval you’d like to collect your payments, with Nuapay you can schedule payments quickly and change them whenever you like.
• Collections made easy – Whether it’s a once off fee for ad-hoc work, or a recurring fee from a regular customer, Nuapay’s automatic collections will ensure you never miss a payment!
• Problem payers – Quickly identify and track problem payers to prevent future failed transactions.
• Business loans with exclusive rates (coming soon) – Obtain a loan up to €100,000 with Nuapay and save money with exclusive customer rates, when compared to banks interest rates.

There are two principal drivers that currently make the use of direct debits a much more viable alternative to card based payments: cost and administration time.

Cost
The first area of consideration is cost, which is quite possibly most important point that many businesses will factor into this decision. Businesses that decide they would like to collect money from customers using a Direct Debit are generally charged at a fixed rate per transaction, irrespective of the value of that transaction. Even for lower value transactions, the fee paid by the business is usually far lower than what they would be required to pay through using cards based payments.

Administration
The second example where a Direct Debit demonstrates a distinct advantage over the use of Credit Cards, is where the businesses business model involves the use of repeat collections, such as with subscription agreements or financial commitments. Cards of all types have relatively short expiration dates, which mean that the business will have to continually update their customer’s details. This is much less of an issue with a Direct Debits as many people are unlikely to change their bank account as frequently as their bank card. As such, a Direct Debits requires far less administration and have a higher probability that any collection request will be accepted.

There are two principal drivers that currently make the use of direct debits a much more viable alternative to card based payments: cost and administration time. Cost The first area of consideration is cost, which is quite possibly most important point that many businesses will factor into this decision. Businesses that decide they would like to collect money from customers using a Direct Debit are generally charged at a fixed rate per transaction, irrespective of the value of that transaction. Even for lower value transactions, the fee paid by the business is usually far lower than what they would be required to pay through using cards based payments. Administration The second example where a Direct Debit demonstrates a distinct advantage over the use of Credit Cards, is where the businesses business model involves the use of repeat collections, such as with subscription agreements or financial commitments. Cards of all types have relatively short expiration dates, which mean that the business will have to continually update their customer’s details. This is much less of an issue with a Direct Debits as many people are unlikely to change their bank account as frequently as their bank card. As such, a Direct Debits requires far less administration and have a higher probability that any collection request will be accepted.

Yes, of course. This is one of the many considerations taken into account with Nuapay and all your customers are fully protected by the Direct Debit Guarantee, which will ensure that a full and immediate refund is made in the event that payment is taken in error.

We provide a payment service, as opposed to a current account, so your money isn’t ever really held with us. Instead, your money is passed directly to the client immediately after the transaction has been processed. Each client simply informs us of the bank account that they hold with their regular bank and their money is sent there once processed each day.

e-Mandates represent proof that the customer authorises the business to process a collection from the customer’s given bank account.This mandate is also an instruction to your customer’s bank informing them to permit the collection of payment from their nominated bank account to the business’ bank.

More efficient and cost-effective, when compared to paper based mandates.

• The seamless integration with biller applications offers a reduction in manual processing, meaning lower staff levels.
• Improved self-service to allow customers to complete mandates online i.e. on the business’ website.
• e-Mandates can attain the same acceptance level as a hand written signature.
• Secured with digital certificated to ensure that the customer’s signature and mandate data is tamper-proof.
• Simple and efficient storage requirements
• Quick and efficient retrieval of mandates
• Immediate validation of customer’s bank details at point of sale to reduce risk of later bank rejections

Ultimately, these fundamental advantages offer customers a much more efficient process by averting the inconvenience of printing, completing, signing and mailing physical paper copies.

An electronic signature is the electronic equivalent of a written signature that is used as an alternative to signing physical copies of a particular document. There are many forms of electronic signature including:

• Typing a name into an electronic document
• The ‘Clickwrap’ method of indicating user intention i.e. clicking “I Accept” on an agreement form
• Personal Identification Number (PIN)
• The name in an e-mail address
• A scanned copy of a manuscript signature
• A biodynamic version of a manuscript signature
• A digital signature

Although there are several categories of electronic signatures, higher value transactions need better quality electronic signatures (such as Advanced Electronic Signatures) that are more securely linked to the owner in order to provide assurance and trust in the underlying system.

Advanced Electronic Signatures are unique to the user, can identify them, under their sole control, whilst under the sole control and is attached to a document that will become invalidated if the contents change.

An Advanced Electronic Signature is deemed to have the same legal effect as a handwritten signature, but in order to be considered an advanced signature, it must possess certain attributes i.e. based on a qualified certificate that is created by a secure-signature creation device. Please note: A definition of these terms is contained within Appendix C of directive 1999/93/EC on electronic signatures.

This directive also states that, “Member states are obliged to ensure that advanced electronic signatures, which are based on a qualified certificate and which are created by a secure-signature-creation device:

1. Satisfy the legal requirement of a signature in the same manner as a handwritten signature
2. Are admissible as evidence in legal proceedings”

This section considers the legal standing of electronic signatures:

In directive 1999/93/EC on electronic signatures, the EU sought to ensure that there would be no discrimination against the use of electronic signatures on the grounds of them being electronic. The objective of this directive was to create a community framework for the use of electronic signatures to allow for the free cross-border flow of products and provision of services, together with a basic legal recognition of electronic signatures throughout the EU.

The directive is extremely important to the future of e-Mandates, particularly for billers operating in multiple member states, as it will encourage the acceptance by stakeholders of various types of electronic signatures.

The directive recognises two forms of electronic signature, a basic electronic signature and an Advanced Electronic Signature.