European business and consumer organisations are warning that plans to create a Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) are doomed to failure unless payment systems end users are more widely consulted.

In a critical paper on the Sepa Direct Debit scheme - scheduled for introduction in November this year - the Payment Systems End User Committee (EUC), says businesses have little incentive to switch to the new payments instrument. "Up to now, the payment users' community has been more or less ignored," say the report's authors. "Sepa cannot achieve its goals unless users are fully involved in its construction. End-users, payment system providers and regulators must all be involved on an equal footing in a new Sepa governance structure."