[IMGCAP(1)]
The chairman of the banking group leading the migration to a Single Euro Payments Area says the group welcomes the more-active role European officials apparently plan to take in SEPA's rollout. Gerard Hartsink, chairman of the European Payments Council, tells CardLine Global sister publication Cards&Payments he does not consider it an admonishment to the council that European Union officials are setting some timetables for SEPA compliance. Still, EU officials largely had refrained from setting such timetables and have allowed banks to regulate themselves as they meet the SEPA requirements. SEPA is the mandated single market for electronic payments similar to the single euro currency for notes and coins. As reported last week by CardLine Global, Charlie McCreevy, EU commissioner for internal markets and services, disclosed in a speech on 17 Nov. that the European Commission and European Central Bank were working on a "SEPA action plan," setting some timetables for "concrete action" on the migration to SEPA. EU officials worry that banks are falling behind, especially in setting up a system for cross-border direct debits. At present, virtually all direct debits of consumer bank accounts for regular payments, such as rent or utilities, are domestic. The mandates call for having the pan-European direct-debit system in place by November 2009. Most observers expect the banks and other payments players to miss that deadline and also a less-formal deadline at the end of 2010 for moving to SEPA-enabled card payments. The banks hit their target in late January for SEPA-based credit transfers, the easiest part of SEPA to achieve. The number of Pan-European credit transfers remains very small, however. Moreover, for the direct-debit scheme to happen, national governments in the EU member states must approve a Payments Services Directive, the legal underpinning for SEPA. They also have to change other regulations to enable, for instance, a consumer living in Germany to have his French bank account directly debited on a regular basis. The planned SEPA action plan by EU officials would push national authorities to set up this legal framework for SEPA, says Hartsink. It also would help to communicate the changes to consumers, he says. "[SEPA] is not only a decision of the banks," Hartsink tells Cards&Payments. "The [European Payments Council] welcomes that the European Commission and the ECB take a more-active role in monitoring the migration to SEPA. As you may recall, it was the public sector that set the dates for the introduction of the euro." But the SEPA action plan was not the idea of the banks, Hartsink also says. EU officials sent a copy of the plan to the council for member banks to comment on, he says.
