SEPA: a single harmonised Euro payments market
Convergence towards a single uniform Euro payments market will be worked on gradually from 2008 onwards. This single payments market is referred to as the Single Euro Payments Area, or SEPA in brief. We are pleased to describe what this means for you and what will change for you with the arrival of SEPA. As of January 28th 2008, the Credit Transfer is live. This means that Rabobank offers you the possibility to initiate and receive SEPA Credit Transfers. In the distribution channels provided by Rabobank the term for the SEPA CT is dubbed 'Euro-betaling' (Euro-payment).
New legislation, new rules of the game
Europe aims to be the most dynamic and competitive knowledge economy in the world by 2010. This requires a single payments market. To bring it about, the European Commission (EC) wants to eliminate national differences in payment products, statutory and regulatory requirements, processes and costs. At present there are substantial differences between countries with regard to payment products, and consequently payments within the European Union cannot be made in a comparable (standardised) manner.
The introduction of SEPA means that the same basic conditions, rights and obligations for payment transactions in euros will apply at both a national and a European level. New products will accordingly be introduced that are aligned with the new rules that will come into force with the introduction of SEPA.
Once SEPA has become a reality it will be just as simple to send a payment to Madrid, Paris or Milan for example as within the Netherlands.
European banks join hands for the roll-out of SEPA
In response to the European Commission’s ambition to put a single Euro payments market in place the European banks established the European Payments Council (EPC) in 2002. The objective of the EPC is to develop a shared vision of what shape SEPA should take and which interbank standards will apply in order to realise it.
A joint legal framework has been created in support of SEPA, the Payment Services Directive (PSD). This harmonises the legal rules in the field of payment transactions within the European Union. The PSD will become effective as of 1 November 2009.