Skip to main content

Security report for paymentinstitutions.eu

European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF) · Finance · Belgium

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

80/100

Risk levelLow

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF) is a well-established non-profit organization founded in 2011, representing payment institutions across Europe. The website serves as a professional platform to provide information about the federation, its mission, membership, policy projects, and latest news. It targets payment service providers, regulators, and stakeholders in the European financial services sector. The site is built on WordPress with a modern theme and plugins, offering a good user experience with clear navigation and mobile optimization. Privacy and cookie policies are implemented with GDPR compliance, and contact information is clearly provided. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and consent mechanisms, though formal security policies and incident response details are absent. Overall, the domain registration and website content are consistent and trustworthy, reflecting a credible business presence in the finance sector.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1

  2. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching paymentinstitutions.eu

This scan found 18 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
72
Security headers
65
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
95
Average
80

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

EPIF occupies a niche position as a federation advocating for payment institutions in Europe, leveraging the Payment Services Directive framework. Its business model focuses on membership services, policy advocacy, and industry collaboration rather than commercial transactions. The organization benefits from a clear regulatory focus and a defined target audience of payment service providers and regulators. The website supports growth and engagement through membership forms and news updates. The presence of LinkedIn as a partner social channel enhances professional networking. The lack of commercial advertising or affiliate programs aligns with its non-profit status. The business intelligence suggests a stable, focused entity with a clear mission and moderate digital maturity.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with enforced HTTPS, cookie consent via Cookiebot, and use of reputable WordPress plugins. However, it lacks explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and security.txt disclosures, which are best practices for transparency and vulnerability management. No security headers were detected in the provided data, indicating room for improvement. The forms use standard WordPress Gravity Forms with consent checkboxes, supporting data protection compliance. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the business type but could be enhanced with formal policies and technical headers.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and controls.
  2. Add incident response contact information such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  3. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  4. Enhance HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  5. Improve accessibility features to meet higher standards and broaden user inclusivity.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF)
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF)
Description
The European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF) is an international non-profit association founded in June 2011 in response to the Payment Services Directive (PSD). It represents payment institutions that provide payment services alongside banks, promoting competition and innovation in the European payment services market.
Key services
Advocacy on payment services regulation, Information dissemination, Membership services, Policy and project publications
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Avada Theme, Revolution Slider, Gravity Forms, Google Analytics, Google Maps API, Cookiebot
Frameworks
WordPress CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • Use of security plugins (implied by WordPress ecosystem)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
Cookiebot
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional non-profit federation site focused on European payment institutions.
  2. Content is well structured with clear navigation and relevant business information.
  3. Use of modern WordPress technologies and plugins.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliant.
  5. Contact information is complete and includes multiple channels.
  6. No security policy or incident response information publicly available.
  7. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  8. Good SSL configuration and use of HTTPS.
  9. Google Analytics and Cookiebot used for tracking and consent management.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS using the Avada theme and several plugins including Revolution Slider and Gravity Forms. It integrates Google Analytics and Google Maps APIs, and uses Cookiebot for cookie consent management. The site is hosted with Combell NV as registrar, indicating European hosting alignment. Performance is moderate with modern responsive design and SEO optimizations via Yoast SEO plugin. The technical stack is mature but could benefit from enhanced security headers and accessibility improvements. No deprecated or vulnerable libraries were detected. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business needs effectively with opportunities for modernization in security and accessibility.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with paymentinstitutions.eu. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review paymentinstitutions.eu.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.