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As the deadline for sepa draws nearer, Christian Westerhaus, head of payments strategy and infrastructures at deutsche Bank, looks into the latest developments and the ultimate consequences for europe’s Banks.
With approximately 15 months to go before the planned implementation of the single euro payments area (sepa), banks have finally come to terms with the fact that the initiative of the european banking industry to create a domestic payments market across the eurozone is no longer a distant possibility but rather a stark reality.
Indeed, much of the groundwork has already been laid following the agreement
and publication of the business rules for making sepa payments in march 2006.
certain elements have yet to be finalised, such as the availability of the new data formats, pan-european implementation guidelines, a robust end-to-end test scenario, as well as a common public legal framework with regard to sepa direct
debits. however, the entire initiative is gradually moving from a concept to an implementation stage and, as a result, most banks will now have completed a thorough analysis of the financial impact of sepa, and consequently taken steps to position themselves accordingly. |
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