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In a move sure to cause a disagreement with the European Central Bank and the European Commission, French banks have decided to delay implementing the SEPA direct-debit system by a year, to November 2010. The announcement confirms the commission's fears in November that banks were falling behind, especially in setting up a system for cross-border direct debits (CardLine Global, 25 Nov.). 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" that involved setting some timetables for "concrete action" on the migration to SEPA. But both organizations have little to no power to enforce these rules, and that may cause other countries to delay SEPA implementation, contends Nancy Atkinson, senior analyst for United States-based consulting firm Aite LLC. "The European Commission can only act as much as there is cooperation and agreement among the independent countries," she says. French banks decided to back off SEPA implementation partly to understand the economics of new interchange rates, according to the country's national SEPA committee. In September, European Central Bank executive board member Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell said it would be unacceptable if banks could not deliver the scheme by the November 2009 deadline. "I don't think there is going to be tons of recourse [by the EU] other than to publicly criticize the French about not making the date," Atkinson says.
