Individual Euro Payments Area

SEPA is the acronym of Single Euro Payments Area or spaces single payments in euro.
This project was born on the initiative from financial institutions from the European Union as well as Suisse, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland which constituted the EPC or European Payments Council (European Council of the payments).
This project aims at harmonizing the financial transfers, in currency Euro (currency of expression), between the Member States (transfer S, taking away S, Bank card…) to make so that a transborder payment is treated with the same speed, same the Sécurité and under the same conditions as a payment Domestique.
La concept of servant is thus wide (for the payments in euro) in the more defined geographical area haut.
Among the first adopted measures figure generalization at January 1st 2006 of the standards ISO for IBAN and the BIRO in order to identify the banks and the bank accounts of the Euro area.

History

At the time of the European Council of Lisbon in March 2000, the European leaders fixed for goal at the European Union (EU) to become the most dynamic economy and most competitive in the world at the horizon 2010. The objective being to reach an average growth of 3% per annum, to create 20 million employment between 2000 and 2010. In order to achieve this goal several building sites were launched. These various building sites relate to employment, the Innovation, liberalization and the environment.

In the banking environment, the objective is to create from here 2010 a single space of payment in which the individuals and the companies will be able to transfer from the funds in Euro in a way so sure, fast, with the same rules and the same costs that they can currently do it within their home country.

Project SEPA thus fits in the continuation of the passage to the Euro and is articulated around a lawful reform which will contribute to the emergence of a single European market of the payments of detail. The SEPA is regarded as having to finalize the introduction of the Euro like single currency.

Objectives and key dates of project SEPA

Project SEPA must make it possible to create economic conditions favorable to the trade within the zone widened EU. Currently the cost to transfer from the funds towards another country of the European Union slows down the development of the trade and limit the investments.

The EuroSystème (European Central bank + national Central banks of the countries whose currency is the Euro) thus invited the banking community to install the instruments making it possible to achieve this goal.

In 2002, the banking community (42 European banks, three ECSA - European Credit Sector Association as well as the ABE) created the EPC (European Payments Council or European Council of the payments, association Pan-European, of which the goal is to build the new instruments of payment making it possible to achieve the goals laid down by the EuroSystème. The EPC (European Council of the payments) thus concentrates on the installation of the Règles trades and the new standards.

The EPC ambitionne to create from here 2010 a whole of new means of payment which can be placed at the disposal of the whole of the particular customers/undertaken inside zone SEPA.

Zone SEPA (widened EU) gathers the 27 countries of the European Union as well as the Iceland, the Norway, the Liechtenstein and the Suisse.

Within this economic space, the actors (Citizen S, Undertaken S…) will be able to emit and receive Paiement S in Euro, within the framework of the national or transborder borders, under the same basic conditions, with same the rights and obligation S, whatever their place of residence.

Project SEPA aims at returning the scriptural payments will intra European easier and less expensive thanks to a convergence of the Norme S and national and European practices leading to a consolidation of the processes and Systems of payment. That will in the long term allow the obliteration of the borders in the field of the Paiement S of detail for true a single European market.

The companies or the private individuals will thus have the possibility of reducing the costs associated with their financial affair and the means of making these operations more effective. SEPA will make it possible to reduce the complexity and the number of intermediate necessary to collect funds.

The installation of the new instruments of payment SEPA must begin in 2008 and be completed at the latest in 2010 (2012 taking into account the new calendar). The SEPA Credit transfer (SCT) which must in the long term replace the transfer could be used as from January 2008 and will definitively replace the current transfer by 2011. The SEPA direct flow (SDD) which must in the long term replace the taking away is planned for November 2009 with one 3 years transitional period what lets consider a disappearance of the current taking away by 2012

At the horizon 2010, the infrastructures national will have to be levelling or removed. the year 2012 becomes consequently the completion date of transition towards the new European means of payment

New instruments of payment

The work undertaken by the EPC since June 2002 led to the adoption in September 2005 of a framework of Interopérabilité for the systems of payment by chart (SEPA Card Framework or SCF) and to the drafting of the functional rules for new instruments of transfer and taking away, respectively SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and SEPA Direct Flow (SDD). The EPC has defines “design”, i.e. rules, standards and practical trades applicable to the treatment of the payment orders, as well as the Donnée S necessary to their exchange.

The SCT: SEPA Transfer Credit

Project SCT aims at creating an instrument of payment making it possible to carry out transfers the nonurgent wording in Euro S between customers located within zone SEPA.

In the long term, there will be no more difference between a national transfer and a transborder transfer. It will consequently become much easier with two entities not forming part of the same country to use the transfer to exchange funds.

The SDD: Direct SEPA Flow

Project SDD aims as for him at creating an instrument of paneuropéen payment making it possible to output the account of a person (named the debtor) held near a bank (called the bank of the debtor) of zone SEPA on “simple” request of the creditor (this last in front of him also to be located in zone SEPA).

Project “SEPA Direct Flow” aims at creating a system making it possible to treat the operations of the type taking away in the 27 Member States of the European Union, the three additional members of the European Economic space as well as the Suisse.

Taking away SDD will make it possible in the same way to treat recurring or specific operations of flow, and this unbounded of amount. It has the role to be used for nonurgent operations, made out in Euro, between users of zone SEPA.

In the long term, there will be no more difference between a national taking away and a transborder taking away. It will consequently become much easier with two entities not forming part of the same country to use the taking away to regulate the current operations (invoices, subscriptions…).

Project SDD is certainly one of the projects the most complex so much differences at the European level concerning the field of the taking away are important. Moreover, its implementation must be done without discontinuity for the authorizations of taking away in progress.

The SDD will make it possible to harmonize and standardize the practices currently used in the countries of zone SEPA to carry out a Automatic deduction.

The SCF: SEPA Card Framework

In the electronic money field, project SEPA aims at building Europe of the electronic payments. Once project SCF finished each carrier of bank card will have to be able to carry out transactions with its bank card, whatever the place where it is inside the euro area.

This objective thus passes by interworking: the charts and the terminals of payments will have to be compatible to standards EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa). The transactions of the payments type and withdrawals chart within zone SEPA must be as easy and have the same advantages as the transactions chart main roads.

New infrastructures of payment

Project SEPA will lead to the installation of new infrastructures of place making it possible to treat these operations at the European level. Project SEPA will generate the creation of several ACH or PE-ACH (Side-European Automatic Clearing Houses), European platforms of compensation. One can in particular quote like PE-ACH: system STEP2 of the ABE which currently allows all entity located within the EU to emit an not-urgent transfer (<50 000 euros) the wording in euro towards a counterpart located anywhere in the EU. System STEP2 will evolve/move to be able to deal with the operations of the type SCT and SDD. The system CORE (successor of the SIT), system TARGET 2 (Trans European Automated Real Time Large Settlement Express train Transfer)…

Implementation of the SEPA in France

In order to coordinate the implementation of means of payment SEPA in France, the Banque de France and the French banking Fédération created National committee SEPA, that they copresident. The first meeting took place on April 7th 2006 in Paris. At a second meeting on October 27th 2006, the Committee presented the plan of migration of France to SEPA. It specifies the choices of France and provides an estimated planning. At its third meeting on March 27th 2007, the Committee announces that it will adjust the calendar of migration of the taking away, in waiting of the harmonized European legal framework. See the official statement following the Committee. At its last meeting, National committee SEPA adopted the second version of the plan of migration, which takes account of the new calendar. Thus, transfer SEPA will be available starting from January 28th, 2008. See the official statement of the Committee of October 11th See the 2nd version of the plan of migration This committee brings together the representatives of the banks and the users of the future means of payment: administrations, companies, tradesmen, private individuals. It aims organizing the whole of work of adaptation necessary for the installation of these means of payment and at defining a plan of migration.

See also: Contenu=Voir it [http://www.sepafrance.fr/fr/content/composition-du-comit%C3%A9-national-sepa composition of National committee SEPA]

Bonds

National committee SEPA
Article of Finance & Strategies on the adoption of the directive
complete Press kit on Europe of the means of payment on site FBF
SEPA Card Framework, pdf
Europe of the payments on the site of the Grouping of Bank cards CB
TOWARDS a SINGLE SPACE OF PAYMENT IN EUROS, OBJECTIVES AND EXPIRIES, 4th REPORT/RATIO Of STAGE, European Central bank
European Payments Council
ABE-EBA Euro Banking Association
SEPA in Belgium - Febelfin
SEPA in Switzerland

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