SEPA Milestones
Since January 2008 the new SEPA tools are available to the customer
Only two years after its establishment in 2002 the European Payments Council (EPC) presented its “Roadmap 2004-2010” describing and defining the next steps in the creation of the single payments market.
The period from 2004 to 2006 saw the development of the Rulebooks. These are the operative procedure descriptions for the SEPA basic products (SEPA direct debit, SEPA credit transfers and SEPA card systems). In addition, new data models on the basis of the XML format ISO 20022 for mass payments and for settlement infrastructures were prepared. It is planned that this new format XML (Extensible Markup Language) is to replace the national formats from 2008 - DTA/DTAZV in Germany.
Starting November 2006 these rulebooks were examined and endorsed by all members, resulting in the final version which will be applicable at the start in January 2008. In mid June 2007 the EPC decided to prospone the official starting date for the SEPA direct debit from 1st January to 28th January. With this decision the EPC wants to support companies using "frozen zones". These zones are specific periods (mostly around new years' eve) of the IT-environment in order to protect against release shifts.
Until late 2007, the new SEPA procedure and standards were continued to be tested in pilot and test operations. These tests have gradually been expanded from interbank clearing to the customer-bank interface.
Start of SEPA credit transfer
On January 28th 2008 SEPA started with the first product: the SEPA credit transfer. In the end of 2009 the second SEPA-product, the SEPA direct debit, should be launched. Its introduction is dependent on the successful implementation of the payment services directive (PSD).
Gradual transition
According to the Roadmap, banks offer their customers the new payments products on a national level and for cross-border payments from January 2008 onwards. The formerly used payments tools will continue to be used in parallel - particularly on a national level. Here, Luxembourgh has a pioneering task. All banks in Luxembourgh exclusively use SEPA for their domestic payments.