sepa (single euro payments area) - key facts and information
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Extend your business reach into the eurozone with AccessPay’s SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) Solution.TRANSCRIPT
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) – Key facts and information
What is SEPA?
SEPA stands for Single Euro Payments Area. It is a payment-integration initiative of the European Union designed to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments. SEPA will combine the various national markets for payments into a single one. SEPA will enable customers to make cashless euro payments from one single bank account, to anyone else in the SEPA area.
What countries does SEPA cover?
SEPA covers 33 countries in Europe:
Eurozone countries in the European UnionAustria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
Non-Eurozone countries in European UnionBulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden, UK.
EEA (European Economic Area) membersIceland, Liechtenstein, Norway.
Additional countries: Monaco, Switzerland. This means that 500 million consumers will be affected by SEPA!
What does the SEPA deadline mean?
The SEPA Regulation has set a deadline of 1st February 2014, when no BIC (business identifier code) will be required for national payments. Current national payment methods will be replaced by SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and SEPA Direct Debit (SDD).
Not being SEPA ready can mean:
Not being able to pay creditors in time Delays in receiving payment from customers Delays in reconciling creditor and debtor ledgers
What are the benefits of SEPA?
SEPA should remove many of the obstacles to successful intra-European trade, leading to faster, cheaper and simpler payments. By reducing the number of bank accounts held in different countries, businesses will save costs, reduce risks, and improve their cash visibility and liquidity management.
Some Further Benefits of SEPA:
Lower transaction fees due to economies of scale.
Higher automation levels and improved exception
handling.
Opportunity to review and streamline account structures.
Increased payment narrative and description fields.
Opportunity to route payments to countries offering the
most attractive terms e.g. no interchange fees.
The ability to collect direct debits from anywhere in the
SEPA.
The ability to target new customers in new territories.
What are the key features of the new SEPA regulation?
The key features of the new SEPA regulations are:
The payment account identifier must be the IBAN. The standard for message formats must be the ISO 20022
XML Standard. The remittance data field must allow for 140 characters. Remittance references information must be passed in full
between PSPs in the payment chain. Payment transactions must allow for fully automated,
electronic processing.
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