Bank of Greece

Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)

Following the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins in the countries of the euro zone in 2002, the creation of a single payments area for the non-cash payment instruments remained a big challenge. In this context, the European banking community established the European Payments Council and so the "Single Euro Payments Area" project was launched.

What is SEPA

SEPA is an area in which consumers, companies and other economic actors will be able to make and receive payments in euro, whether between or within national boundaries under the same basic conditions, rights and obligations, regardless of their location. SEPA aims to create an integrated, competitive and innovative euro area retail payments market, where non-cash euro payments can be effected using as single bank account and a single set of payment instruments.
For more information see The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) ECB brochure.

SEPA Stakeholders

SEPA has the full support of the European Commission and the Eurosystem and is being developed on the initiative of the banking sector. Banks focus on the development of SEPA payment instuments (credit transfers, direct debits, credit/debit cards) that will replace the correspondent national payment instruments. Besides banks, SEPA implementation involves clearing systems, companies, consumers, public authorities and the public administration.

Migration Plan

The greek banking community acknowleges the need to migrate to SEPA and for this purpose it has set up the appropriate organisational structure.

Organisation

A SEPA Forum has been established with the objective of monitoring SEPA progress. The SEPA Forum is chaired by the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece and participation within consists of the Hellenic Bank Association, DIAS S.A., a company that manages and operates a retail payment system, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Greek Industries, the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, public utility companies and consumers' associations. The Hellenic Bank Association is responsible for the design and implementation of SEPA, through specialised working groups and the Executive Committee, which represents the decision-making body for banks.

Timeplan

The timeplan consists of three phases: a) the design phase, which started in 2004 and is almost complete, b) the implementation phase, which started in mid 2006 and is expected to conclude by the end of 2007 and c) the migration phase starting from 2008; it is expected that a criticall mass of transactions will have migrated to SEPA by the end of 2010. More specifically, banks currently are developing the SEPA products, which they will offer to the public from 1.1.2008 onwards. The preparations and planning of the Greek banking community for the migration to SEPA are presented in the document SEPA Implementation and Migration in Greece, issued by the Hellenic Bank Association

Regulatory framework

The proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on payment services in the internal market, shall establish a harmonised legal framework for payments services at Community level.
The Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 on cross-border payments in euro which defines that the fees charged on domestic and cross-border payments up to €50.000 shoud be the same.

Standards

SEPA requires the use of common pan-european standards and business practices for the fully automated and efficient processing of payment instruments. Indicatively, the following standards shall be used in SEPA payments:

The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) which is used to define the bank and the account number of a beneficiary. In SEPA, the use of IBAN is a prerequisite for the automated processing of payment orders. More information on IBAN can be found at the website of Hellenic Bank Association (in Greek).

Bank Identifier Code (BIC) is the unique identification code of a specific bank and/or bank branch, registered by the provider of electronic messaging services SWIFT.

Publications / Speeches

ECB: SEPA - From concept to Reality (5th Progress Report)
ECB: Towards a single euro payments area - fourth progress report: An integrated retail payments market
ECB: The Eurosystem's view of a SEPA for cards
ECB: Single Euro Payments Area - Joint Statement from the European Commission and the European Central Bank

Events

Single Euro Payments Area, Hellenic Banking Institute

Links

Hellenic Bank Association
DIAS S.A.
European Central Bank
European Commission
European Payments Council
SWIFT
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS)