EPC annual report 2004

04 April 2005

The European Payments Council (EPC) published its 2004 annual report which also includes a roadmap which sets out our deliverables and timescale for action until 2010. This Roadmap has been developed to provide a description of the way forward for delivery of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) programme. It provides a refined definition and scope for SEPA, building on the original 2002 vision, and presents the key deliverables and priorities for EPC in the period ahead.

In a declaration adopted by the European Payments Council Plenary, the EPC states that it will deliver the two new Pan-Euro Payment Schemes for electronic credit transfer and for direct debits. It will also design a Cards Framework to define a single market for cards. The scheme rulebooks and the cards framework definition will be delivered by end 2005, and the services will be operational by January 2008.

The EPC is also convinced that a critical mass of transactions will naturally migrate to these payment instruments by 2010 such that SEPA will be irreversible through the operation of market forces and network effects.

Annual report

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