The free online EPC Newsletter, published quarterly by the European Payments Council, is the source covering latest developments in the Single Euro Payments Area – SEPA. The October 2011 edition focuses on the forthcoming ‘Regulation Establishing Technical Requirements for Credit Transfers and Direct Debits in Euros’. This European Union initiative is commonly referred to as the ‘SEPA Regulation’.
This issue, the SEPA Regulation will stipulate mandatory deadlines for migration to harmonised SEPA payment schemes. These deadlines could come into force as of 2013 for euro credit transfers and 2014 for euro direct debits. The European Payments Council appreciates that the European legislator will shortly finalise SEPA end dates in order to provide the planning security that is urgently required by all SEPA stakeholders.
The EPC Newsletter highlights the European Payments Council’s main concerns with regard to the proposed SEPA Regulation, which is currently under review by the European legislator. These concerns can be summarised as follows:
- The SEPA Regulation will confer unprecedented powers upon the European Commission to decree payment functionalities. In the future, both demand and supply sides will have to comply with the payment scheme rules and technical standards defined by the regulator. The European Commission must ensure that this process is based on extensive market consultation and broad consensus among all stakeholders. In addition, all market participants must be able to rely on sufficient lead times to implement changes to SEPA payment schemes as mandated by the European Commission.
- Bank customers, such as businesses and public administrations, should be spared the duplication of SEPA implementation efforts and resources. The SEPA Regulation should therefore establish one end date for migration to harmonised SEPA payment schemes. With this Regulation, the European Commission however, proposes to set two separate deadlines for compliance of euro credit transfers and direct debits.
- The proposal for a SEPA Regulation suggests a ban on transaction-based multilateral interchange fees for direct debits. It is the EPC’s opinion that a sunset clause should be included in the Regulation, which would allow affected banking communities to develop new direct debit business models over a transition period.
- The European Payments Council again calls attention to the fact that the European legislator intends to abolish the direct debit model, which is preferred by the vast majority of European citizens who make direct debit payments today. The European Payments Council invites the legislator to reconsider and to align the forthcoming SEPA Regulation with the proven preferences of bank customers.
Continuing the debate on the most appropriate approach to standardisation and innovation, this edition of the EPC Newlsetter offers the latest academic research on the subject.
In addition, there is a report on the latest releases of the SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit Rulebooks, which will be published in November 2011. These updated versions will take effect in November 2012.
The EPC Newsletter also regularly reflects the political debates impacting the SEPA process. This newsletter sees the record set straight on what some parties claim to be a ‘flawed SEPA governance’ model. Our commentator clarifies that SEPA is a European integration initiative governed by European Union law and policies. Any interest group is free to engage in the European Union decision-making process subject to applicable procedures. There is no such thing as a ‘SEPA governance issue’. In line with the needs of bank customers, the focus of the debate should now be on coordinating mass migration to the SEPA payment schemes.
For more information on the latest SEPA developments please listen to the recording of a recently broadcast press conference hosted by the European Payments Council. The newsletter and the webcast are available on the European Payments Council Website at www.epc-cep.eu.
European Payments Council Newsletter Comments on Latest Developments in the Single Euro Payments Area
