8/8/2019 Euro companies need to ready their SAP Systems for SEPA by 2014

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Euro companies need to ready their SAP Systems for SEPA by 2014

By Bob Croce, SAP Experts

By 2014, its likely that the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) will be mandatory for all

companies operating in Europe that are sending and receiving Euro payments, reportsJuergen Weiss of SEPA-now Consulting in his latest article in Financials Expert.

In the article, titled Ready your SAP system for the new payment methods within theSingle Euro Payments Area, Juergen writes about how SEPA is the result of actions

taken by the banking industry in 2002, when the industry created the European Payments

Council (EPC) to define the standards, frameworks, and rules for Euro payments.

SEPA enables citizens, companies, and other stakeholders to make and receive payments

in Euros within Europe, whether between or within national boundaries, under the same

basic conditions, rights, and obligations, regardless of their location, Juergen writes. The

political driver behind SEPA is the European Commission, along with the EuropeanCentral Bank.

The new regulation calls for a mandatory migration date for the currently existing

domestic payment methods within the 32 SEPA member states by 2014 at the latest. This

forces all companies that are doing business with European partners and that are sending

or collecting payments in Euros to comply with the new payment standards. Paymentformats such as checks or bills of exchange are not affected by the new standards because

they are paper based.

SAP implemented the new SEPA credit transfer with the Payment Medium Workbench

(PMW) and the Data Medium Exchange Engine (DMEE). In contrast to the classicpayment medium programs, the PMW allows you to maintain, configure, and enhanceyour payment formats more easily, Juergen writes in Financials Expert. In addition, the

PMW separates generic functions from format-specific mapping and allows you to apply

legal changes to payment medium formats faster. The component also reduces the degreeof complexity, because you only need to use one tool and dont have to work with many

different payment medium programs that are often hard to maintain and extend.

About Bob Croce:

Bob Croce is the Product Director for SAP Experts(www.sapexperts.com), an online subscription service that createspractical, how-to information for companies seeking to optimize theirSAP software investments.

About SAPexperts:

SAPexperts consist of nine online knowledgebases produced by WIS Publishing theleading independent provider of publications and educational events focused on SAP

8/8/2019 Euro companies need to ready their SAP Systems for SEPA by 2014

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technology. The nine SAPexperts knowledgbases consist of Financials Expert, BI

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Project Expert, as well as SAP Professional Journal. Access to the SAPexpertsknowledgebases is obtained on an annual subscription basis. More information on this

topic can be found on ILN or at http://www.financialsexpertonline.com/article.cfm?

id=5637.

About ILN:

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professionals get trusted answers to their most specific SAP questions, advance their

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and SAP partners, Insider Learning Network offers a single place to share with and learnfrom other SAP professionals, research projects and products, and find detailed technical

information and advice. For more information can be found at

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