Payment systems users warn of risks of SEPA failure
22 July 2009
Payment Systems End User Committee (EUC) says businesses have little incentive to switch to the new payments instrument.
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."
The European Commission is currently contemplating the introduction of a final end-date for the migration from legacy national payment systems as a means to stimulate wider uptake of the new Sepa-compliant intruments.
However, the EUC cautions that such a move could destabilise the entire Sepa project. "No decision on end dates should be taken until the remaining areas of disagreement have been resolved to the satisfaction of end users," states the report. "The setting of arbitrary end dates by legislation would result in a failure of Sepa."
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