SEPA Migration PSMEG Roxane Romme DG Internal Market and Services 11 April 2014 Introduction Commission proposal amending Regulation (EU) N. 260/2012 as regards the deadline for SEPA migration SEPA Migration rates PwC study on SEPA Benefits Payment Accessibility (Regulation (EU) N. 260/2012 Art. 9) 14/02/2016 Commission proposal Based on migration rates end 2013=> 100% migration by 1 February 2014 very unlikely Risk that the processing of part of the payments made through Europe would be blocked because banks would no longer be allowed to accept CTs or DDs that are not SEPA compliant. Commission proposal adopted to minimise risks by amending regulation 260/2012 in order to provide for a transition period of six months until 1 st of August 2014 during which banks and other payment service providers will be able to continue processing payment orders even if users do not provide them in the right SEPA format. SCT Migration Rate 14/02/2016 In February 2014 the overall migration rate for SCT in the euro area was 93,91% Source: ECB SDD Migration Rate 14/02/2016 In February 2014 the overall migration rate for SDD in the euro area is 80,26% Source: ECB SEPA Benefit Report Study by PwC finalised Jan 2014 on the benefits of SEPA: Potential yearly savings of 21.9 billion due to price convergence and process efficiency; Reduction of up to 9 million bank accounts, resulting from more efficient corporate euro cash-management infrastructures; Up to 227 billion in credit lines and released liquidity Indirect additional benefits from, for example: adoption of e-invoicing, extended use of XML ISO20022, SEPA-cards framework, mobile payments, etc. 14/02/2016 Payment Accessibility Regulation 260/2012, Article 9 states: 1. A payer making a credit transfer to a payee holding a payment account located within the Union shall not specify the Member State in which that payment account is to be located, provided that the payment account is reachable in accordance with Article A payee accepting a credit transfer or using a direct debit to collect funds from a payer holding a payment account located within the Union shall not specify the Member State in which that payment account is to be located, provided that the payment account is reachable in accordance with Article 3. 14/02/2016 Payment Accessibility Commission has received complaints Several cases of citizens being refused by a payee to pay with a cross-border SDD In theory this should be possible since the adoption of Regulation 260 in 2012 In practice any technical reasons preventing this should be solved by 1 August 2014 (end of six month transitional period) 14/02/2016 Thank you for your attention!