SEPA Customers

SEPA Benefits for Customers

Payment service users are an important partner in the process of making SEPA a reality

The European Payments Council (EPC) invites all stakeholders to take advantage of the numerous communication and consultation platforms offered by the EPC. The EPC Website, the EPC Newsletter and EPC social media platforms make available comprehensive, regular and timely information on all EPC activities and are designed to encourage stakeholders to directly engage with the EPC.

The EPC calls on all stakeholders to participate in the annual change management cycle with regard to the evolution of the SCT and SDD Schemes. The EPC scheme change management process provides all stakeholders with the opportunity to introduce suggestions for modifications to the schemes and to take part in the annual three-month public consultation on updates to be incorporated into the scheme rulebooks. To learn more about the term 'SEPA payment scheme', refer to this dedicated page on the EPC Website: What is a Payment Scheme? For details on how to engage in the EPC scheme change management process, refer to this dedicated page on the EPC Website: SCT / SDD Rulebook Release Management and Scheme Development. The EPC publishes all input and feedback received from SEPA stakeholders on the EPC Website (see link to 'EPC Consultations' below).

How can I learn more?

The EPC makes available publications, videos and podcasts responding to the information needs of specific stakeholder communities with regard to SEPA (see below). To keep up-to-date with latest developments, sign-up for the free quarterly online EPC Newsletter, also available in full, on the EPC Website.

Get ready for SEPA. Act now!
EU Regulation defines mandatory deadlines for migration to SEPA

In February 2012, the European legislator adopted the 'Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009' (the SEPA Regulation), which defines 1 February 2014 as the deadline in the euro area for compliance with the core provisions of this Regulation. In non euro countries, the deadline will be 31 October 2016. Effectively, this means that as of these dates, existing national euro credit transfer and direct debit schemes will be replaced by SCT and SDD. For more information on the SEPA Regulation, refer to this dedicated page on the EPC Website: SEPA Legal and Regulatory Framework.

The SEPA Regulation affects not only payment service providers, but also payment service users (PSUs) such as corporates, small and medium sized enterprises, public administrations and government agencies. It is strongly recommended that PSUs analyse the impact of the SEPA Regulation on their operational models now. The experience of early movers on the demand side handling major payment volumes indicates that migration to SEPA Schemes and technical standards is beneficial but requires careful planning. The relevant actions and resources should be identified immediately. For more information, visit this dedicated page on the EPC Website: The EPC Migration Tool Kit: Get Ready for SEPA by 1.2.2014. Act Now!.