At each twice-annual General Assembly meeting, the EPC presents a symbolic accolade to one or more outstanding individuals.
This recognition celebrates exceptional contributions and unwavering dedication to the EPC over the years, serving as a token of gratitude from the entire EPC community.
Dag‑Inge Flatraaker has been recognised with the EPC Distinguished Contributor Award for over two decades of leadership and influence in European payments, particularly through his work with the European Payments Council and related industry bodies. His contributions have focused on advancing SEPA, promoting collaboration across stakeholders, and driving innovation such as mobile payments, helping to shape more harmonised and efficient payment systems across Europe. The award acknowledges his consistent, long-term impact and commitment to the development of the European payments ecosystem.
Javier Santamaría
Javier Santamaría chaired the European Payments Council (EPC) from 2012 to 2025, following his longstanding membership since the organisation’s launch in 2002. Drawing on decades in banking, he has built comprehensive expertise across the business, operational, technical, and regulatory facets of payments, covering both legacy systems and emerging innovations.
He now leverages this extensive background as an independent professional, contributing in both cooperative and competitive industry settings. He also remains actively engaged in academic matters.
Jean-Yves Jacquelin
Jean-Yves Jacquelin was a Senior Payments Expert at Erste Bank Austria. Since the creation of the European Payments Council (EPC) in 2002, he actively contributed to various EPC working groups. He played a key role in the development of the SEPA Credit Transfer, Direct Debit, and Instant Credit Transfer schemes, working closely with the end-user community.
He also served as Chairman of the EPC Payment Scheme Evolution & Maintenance (PSEM) working group and was a member of the EPC Scheme Management Board. His last role within the EPC before retiring was serving as Chair of the Payment Scheme Management Board (PSMB).
Alain Benedetti
Alain Benedetti served as the Cards & Innovative Payments Project Director at BNP Paribas. Since 1988, he held various roles in retail banking, managing both technical and managerial projects. A graduate of École Centrale Paris, he began his career at Alcatel, where he led the creation and development of the micro-computing department.
At the European Payments Council, he served as co-chair of the ERPB (European Retail Payment Board) Work Group on Payment Initiation Service (PIS), chaired the Request-to-Pay taskforce, and actively contributed to several other EPC working groups.
René Langenhoff
René Langenhoff retired in October 2023. He has worked at Worldline and its predecessors in the Netherlands as an information analyst, consistently within the Automated Clearing House (ACH) section, focusing on the clearing and settlement of payments between banks, both domestically and cross-border.
For over a decade, since 2011, he has actively participated in the EPC SEMSTF, contributing to the development and maintenance of the SEPA schemes Implementation Guidelines. In this role, he represented the European Automated Clearing House Association (EACHA), a collaborative forum for European ACHs to share information and address issues of mutual interest.
Leonor Machado
Leonor Machado previously served as Chair of the Cash Working Group at the EPC and as General Manager at Caixa Geral de Depósitos, where she was responsible for the payments area. Throughout her career, she gained extensive experience in cards, marketing, and both retail and commercial banking. She is also the Chair of the SEPA Portuguese Group.
With a background in Economics, Leonor’s career before banking included roles in international trade, cooperation, and development. She is currently engaged in volunteer work.
Francis De Roeck
Francis De Roeck spent 20 years in the payments industry at BNP Paribas Global Cash Management and served on the EPC Payments Scheme Management Board. He was instrumental in developing SEPA’s ISO20022 messaging standards and the EPC rulebooks. He co-led an e-mandate workgroup at the European Central Bank and participated in numerous industry initiatives.
Now retired, he continues to train the next generation in the payments field.
Narinda You
Narinda You, former Head of Strategy and Market Practice at Crédit Agricole Payment Services, has extensive payments experience. She began in corporate sales, then moved to marketing and innovation, playing a key role in the SEPA project and managing relations with payment schemes. She served as vice chairperson of the EPC for seven years, was a Board member of EBA Clearing and EBICSco, and participated in various national Payments Boards and Committees in France.
Retired, she currently acts as senior advisor to the EPI (European Payment Initiative).
Eric Véronneau
Eric Véronneau is currently enjoying retirement after a distinguished career in the banking and payments industry. He most recently served as a Manager Leader - Interbank Relationships at BPCE Payment Services. Prior to that, he held managerial positions at several financial institutions within the BPCE Group.
Eric played a pivotal role at the EPC, taking part in the creation of the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) schemes and then leading the creation of EPC payment scheme implementation guidelines and chairing the Scheme Evolution and Maintenance Standards Taskforce (SEM STF), thereby contributing significantly to key developments in the payments sector.