In less than five months, the EPC’s SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme will be operational. The implementation of this new and optional scheme – the exact starting date of which is 21 November 2017 – is a hot topic within the European payment community. It is also a challenging one, as the published the rulebook in November 2016, which left just one year for payment service providers ( ) to get ready. At the , we are convinced that the scheme will progressively change payments and their use as we know them. New use cases will appear on the market based on instant payments. The only grey area is the date at which the number of transactions becomes significant. To shed some light on the implementation status of in Europe, we interviewed Jean-Yves Jacquelin, who chairs the Scheme Evolution and Maintenance Working Group, and who is also Senior Payments Expert at Erste Bank Vienna.
Q. How many are expected to be ready by November 2017, when goes live?
We regularly monitor the adherence plans of , which are still evolving. For the moment, from five countries are expected to adhere to by November 2017. These countries are Austria, Spain, Finland, Italy and Latvia.
Overall, over 600 should propose services before the end of this November.
This is quite an encouraging figure considering the brief time had to upgrade their systems for real-time processing and 24/7 availability.
In addition, other countries will join in 2018, such as Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Sweden, and some from the Netherlands.
We will continue to closely monitor plans, and we are confident that from other countries will adhere to in 2018 and 2019.
Q. From an infrastructure perspective, are the Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms ( ) ready for the scheme’s go-live date of 21 November?
Seven large have already confirmed they will be able to support transactions from November 2017 onwards. The list is available on the EPC website. We expect other to announce their compliance with in the coming months.
Q. What main challenges do face in the implementation of the scheme?
We have identified four types of challenges:
- Technical obstacles
who wish to offer services have had only one year to prepare since the scheme was unveiled by the in November 2016 with the publication of its rulebook. This is a very challenging timeline, considering that need to adapt their IT systems and ensure real-time processing and 24/7/365 availability in order to adhere to the . This is not an easy task and it requires time and investments.
- Business case
Even if our society is increasingly mobile and fast, the initial request for this pan-European instant credit transfer scheme came from the Euro Retail Payments Board and not directly from the customers themselves. need to decide to adhere to , based on their vision and business case. Specifically, the scheme currently sets a limit of 15,000 euros per transaction. Though this parameter is not set in stone and might evolve further after November 2018, it might initially limit the relevance of the scheme for corporate customers.
- Risk management
One of the concerns often share with us is that transactions would be highly attractive for fraud and money laundering. have to adapt their systems to prevent these risks, while still respecting the target of ensuring that each transaction takes just ten seconds. This is quite challenging.
- Uncertainties in the CSM space
There will be no lack of infrastructure on offer for willing to propose services. However, are worried they might have to participate in more than one clearing solution to ensure full reachability. As yet there is no guarantee of concrete interoperability between the different CSM solutions.
Q. In your opinion, when will really take off at level?
The Regulation (( ) No 260/2012 Art 4(b)) stipulates that any new credit transfer (or direct debit) scheme must reach a majority of within a majority of Member States which constitutes a majority of within the Union, after three years. I think will easily reach that target, and I suggest a more challenging goal.
I imagine a kind of 5/50 rule: five years after implementation, fifty percent of the credit transfer transactions should be processed under the scheme. In other words, by the end of 2022, fifty percent of all credit transfers would be instant. This would be a real success story. It is not impossible; it will depend on how are positioning the instant payments ‘products’ and the channels at the disposal of customers for making instant payments, which must be mobile, easy and fast. The next challenge I see is a real opportunity for cooperation between fintechs and to make a success story.
Your reactions
If you would like to comment on this article, please identify yourself with your first and last name. Your name will appear next to your comment. Email addresses will not be published. Please note that by accessing or contributing to the discussion you agree to abide by the EPC website conditions of use.
Jean-Yves Jacquelin
Jean Yves Jacquelin is in Product Management & Development of Erste Bank Austria as Senior Expert Payments for Erste Bank, Austrian Savings Banks, Erste Group Bank and Group countries. He is a chairman of the Scheme Evolution & Maintenance (SEM) working group having the responsibility for the four Rulebooks and Scheme Management Board member.