A new partnership between verified digital identity specialist Signicat and Twikey will make it easier for merchants in Belgium and the Netherlands to accept digitally-signed SEPA e-mandates for recurring purchases. The arrangement will enable firms to reduce costs and improve efficiency by moving away from paper-based SEPA processes.

“By working with Twikey, we can offer a streamlined solution to the market where businesses are able to identify who they are dealing with online, build the mutual trust, and get an e-mandate for ongoing payments with their customers,” Signicat CEO Gunnar Nordseth said.

SEPA mandates provide an authorization that enables merchants to accept future and recurring payments for services such as rent and utilities. While such mandates have historically required consumers to make actual trips to the bank to sign paper authorizations, the partnership between Signicat and Twikey will allow consumers to sign SEPA e-mandates digitally.

Belgium-based Twikey enables businesses to better manage recurring payments to save money and time. Founded in 2013, the company’s technology also helps its customers get 70% to 97% of their invoices to recurrent customers paid in two days or less. Twikey founder Dominique Adriansens pointed to the growth in the company’s digital SEPA mandate business as a key reason for the partnership with Signicat.

“We have already more than 1 million consumers in Belgium and the Netherlands having signed SEPA mandates digitally,” Adriansens said. “In a lot of cases contracts need to be signed upfront and that’s where Signicat comes in.” He praised the company’s experience in deploying digital identity verification in Europe, calling Signicat “the ideal match for assisting companies in search of more digitalization.”

Signicat demonstrated a pair of digital verification solutions – Signicat Assure and Signicat Sign – at FinovateEurope 2017. As of this month, the company offers identity verification in 208 countries using identity document scanning, web-based video interviews, and NFC scanning of passports. Also this month, Signicat partnered with Swisscom Trust Services to integrate qualified e-signatures (QES) into its platform.

In October, Signicat introduced a handful of new platform capabilities, including a new interface and new third party integrations. Over the summer, the company purchased Norwegian digital identity firm, Idfy, one of the fastest growing digital trust companies in the region. Signicant also teamed up with open identity scheme for financial services, yes.com, earlier this year, helping streamline onboarding, authentication, and e-signatures for the German digital identity service.

Winner of the bobsguide’s Best Retail Banking System Integration Award – along with Rabobank – Signicat was acquired by Nordic Capital in April. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Prior to the acquisition, Signicat had raised $8.8 million in funding.