Second SEPA Migration Report, October 2013

The European Central Bank (ECB) published in October 2013 its second report on migration to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), analysing the state of play in euro area countries in creating a single market for credit transfers and direct debits in euro across Europe. The report also provides guidance on managing the transition process.

1 February 2014 is the deadline established by European law for euro area countries to migrate to the SEPA credit transfer (SCT) and SEPA direct debit (SDD) schemes. With only 100 days left to go, the changeover process was entering a critical phase. The information compiled by the ECB and the euro area national central banks show that many key stakeholders had decided to migrate only in the last quarter of 2013, or even later. This approach, according to the ECB, generatesd operational risks and limited the ability to tackle any issues or unexpected developments that might arise during the changeover period.

ECB: Press Release, 24.10.13: ECB publishes second SEPA migration report http://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2013/html/pr131024.en.html

ECB: Payments & Markets: SEPA http://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/sepa/html/index.en.html

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