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IP/09/884
Brussels, 8 June 2009
Commission launches consultation on possible enddate for Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
migration
The European Commission has launched a consultation on whether and how
deadlines should be set for the migration of existing payment products – i.e.
credit transfers and direct debits – to the new Single Euro Payments Area
(SEPA) products. Feedback from all stakeholders will help the Commission
to identify whether there is a need for action in this respect and at which
level. Interested parties are invited to send their comments to the
Commission by 3 August 2009.
Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: "The SEPA
(Single Euro Payments Area) project holds much promise in terms of improved
efficiency, dynamism and competitiveness of the European economy. Significant
progress has been made on the road to SEPA since 2002, but migration remains
slow. We should therefore assess whether some deadlines should be defined for the
migration to the new SEPA credit transfers and direct debits."
The SEPA project aims at creating an integrated market for electronic payment
services in euros, with harmonised sets of business rules and technical standards.
With these new European payments, consumers, companies, merchants and public
administrations will be able to make payments under the same conditions throughout
Europe as easily as within their own country. SEPA covers three core payment
instruments: SEPA credit transfer (SCT), SEPA direct debit (SDD) and payment
cards.
Setting clear deadlines for the migration of legacy credit transfers and direct debits to
SEPA credit transfers and direct debits would send a strong signal to all stakeholders
that SEPA migration is an irreversible process. It would provide certainty and
predictability and act as a strong incentive for both industry and users to speed up
migration. The European Central Bank/Eurosystem stated in its 6th SEPA progress
report that "setting a realistic, but ambitious end date for the migration to SCT and
SDD is a necessary step in order to reap the benefits of SEPA early".
The Commission is therefore launching a public consultation on this subject in order
to obtain a more comprehensive view of stakeholders' positions. The consultation
paper presents all the options available today regarding the definition of such an
end-date and its potential practicalities:
- Should it cover only standards, or schemes as well? Should it cover only the
interbank space, or the bank-to-customer space as well? Should it entail full
migration or allow the exclusion of certain products?
- If an end-date is seen as needed, should there be one common end-date for
SCT and SDD migration or two separate end-dates? Should they be set at
national level and/or at European level? Should they be left to self-regulation or
set by regulation?
The consultation document is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/sepa/ec_en.htm
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