Brussels, 16/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 15 July, payment services users presented a common position which provided recommendations on how to make a success of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), as the project seems to be running out of steam. The recommendations relate to direct debit services due in November 2009 and setting of end-dates for the introduction of SEPA products. European transfers using SEPA standards, launched at the start of 2008, currently account for only 2% of transfers carried out. The Commission is drafting a road map to inject fresh impetus into SEPA (see EUROPE 9930).
Users take the view that the system planned for direct debits will not allow as many services to be offered as are currently available under national systems. This is a situation that could discourage use of new SEPA standard services. Users say that there should be a system that offers a range of basic services along with other charged services that fit the precise needs of users.
Funding of SEPA direct debits (SDD) will be provided until the end of 2012 by multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) of €0.088 to be billed by bank of a person making a cross-border direct debit to the bank of the recipient (see EUROPE 9891). With no option but to comply with this rule, users nevertheless express their “strong reservations about the equity of the interim fee and the process by which it was arrived at”. Users would like to see a full cost/benefit analysis of these MIFs, in particular on billing in the event of an error, and call for clarity and transparency on the pricing of SDD after 2012.
Users do not feel that setting legal end-dates for placing SEPA products (transfers, direct debits, bank cards) on the market is necessary at this point. It should be the market that determines the timetable, they say. If, ultimately, they have to be set, end-dates for the three products should be considered separately. A consultation exercise on the usefulness of setting end-dates will run until Monday 3 August (see EUROPE 9918). Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has said that, should end-dates be set, this would be a strong signal that the SEPA project was irreversible and would encourage industry and users to move more quickly to SEPA products.
The joint position is supported by: the European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC), European employers (BusinessEurope), the European Associations of Corporate Treasurers (EACT), the European e-commerce and Mail Order Trade Association (EMOTA), the European Retail, Wholesale and International Trade Organisation (EuroCommerce), the European Federation of Magazine Publishers (FAEP), the European Insurance and Re-insurance Federation (CEA) and the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME). (M.B./transl.rt)