Of Special Interest
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- Newslink Trends-The Global Strategic Perspective
- Juniper Research says digital wallet users to exceed 4.4 billion by 2025, as mobile drives digital payments’ revolution
- Criminals exploit COVID-19 pandemic with rise in scams targeting victims online
- Equifax says Open Banking proving pivotal to pandemic lending
- Consumer confidence in banks, credit card providers and investments remain stable as demand supercharges digital finance says Toluna research
- Mintos says Europeans are starting to embrace investing
- US banks see IT modernisation as a way to improve customer experience
- Risk mitigation in global trade depends on digitisation-Andrew Raymond, CEO, Bolero International comments
- Juniper Research new study says the volume of B2B payments facilitated by non-banks will exceed 53 billion in 2022, from a COVID-related low of 38 billion in 2020
- CMA issues fifth publication over 3 years of the service quality league table of personal and business current account providers
- Barclays says scammers take advantage of COVID-19, cashing in on nations’ uncertainty
- S&P Global report says financial market infrastructure sector's earnings likely to cool off In second half
- Global banking market capitalisation slumps by over 30% amid pandemic says Buyshares research
- Digital wallet spend in Europe & North America to increase by 40% in 2019, finds study
- Juniper forecasts mobile money transactions will exceed 200 billion by 2024
- Banks can save the world from climate change, says former UN climate chief
- Research by NatWest reveals gender divide over attitudes to saving
- Europe’s big bank problem: too much capital is trapped in the US, says Scope
- Later-Life lending market set to almost double in the next 10 years, finds report
- Barclays/Cebr report challenges nation to think differently about wealth
- Fifth of UK investors looking to debt investment, new research reveals
- Regtech will play a more important role in PSD2, says Mitek
- Banks turn to Fintech partnerships to improve customer experience, finds Fraedom
- New industry code to tackle fraud must deliver, says Which?
- New TTF report highlights loss of trust in financial services
- Arxan highlights financial app vulnerability epidemic
- SAS asks whether banks really need to choose between operations and innovation
- Which? raises alarm as almost 1,700 free ATMs become fee-charging
- Financial wellness affects half of peoples’ mental or physical health, finds report
- Study finds traditional financial institutions embrace Fintech disruption
- Grass is greener for environmentally friendly businesses, finds Barclays
- Prospective homeowners would consider a 40-year mortgage to escape renting, finds Santander
- Millennials’ needs are changing the face of banking industry, says new report
- FS is putting consumer data at risk by failing to protect mobile apps, says Arxan
- A lack of belief in their ability holds 28% women back in work, says Cambridge & Counties
- ‘Which?’ reveals Scotland has lost over a third of its bank branches in eight years
- Next downturn unlikely to be as bad as 2008, according to S&P
- FCA reveals findings from first cryptoassets consumer research
- US consumers favour single mobile app for banking and payments
- Banks suffering major IT shutdowns every day, ‘Which?’ reveals
- The US will be a key offshore centre in 2019, says GlobalData
- Debit industry changes markedly in 10 years of the Debit Issuer Study
- UK's ‘Big Five’ face ‘too big to compete’ as small challengers secure stellar returns
- Banks as vulnerable now as before crash, says new study
- Leverage ratio a constant conundrum for European and US banks, says SNL
17th February 2012
SEPA payments date set as 1st February 2014
The European Parliament has set the date by which all banks in the Single European Payment Area must offer SEPA wide direct debits and direct credits as February 1st 2014. Although it is still technically possible for this date to be changed it is unlikely to alter. There have been many delays mainly because banks pleaded for more time. Most banks are now resigned to deliver the services by the time set. Sensibly the parliament has also decided on only one transfer date. The original plan had been to first introduce payments and then credits.
Banks have had three issues to contend with. First the necessary systems changes required. Second the loss of the highly profitable international transfer fees, in most cases hundreds of times more than they charge for domestic payments - assuming that is there is any charge for domestic payments. Third, and not limited only to the banks, is the need for education of the public and the need for the public to remember a longer and in some cases not as easy to remember codes. The European Parliament has sensibly also ordered the ending of the BIC Branch Identifier Code) identifier codes which are not needed given that the IBAN (International Bank Account Identifier) has all the necessary information included.
The parliament believes that the changes could save customers €123bn (£103bn $161bn ¥12.6bn Y1,014bn) over 6 years - this is largely comprised of less fees earned by the banks. The parliament adds that other benefits are that individuals working in other countries within the area will no longer have to open up new bank accounts and then separately arrange transfers to their home countries. Similarly companies will no longer have to open up separate accounts in each country they want to make sales in.
SEPA should not be confused with the Eurozone. SEPA consists of the 27 European Union members, the four European Free Trade Area members - Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland - and the principality of Monaco. The German central bank made the sensible point that whilst February 2014 was the final date banks could bring in the systems in before that date and should do so. Although banks may bring in the systems before the final date it is most unlikely they will bring in the required low level of charges that will apply from this date unless forced to do so by the national parliaments.