An article in the recent European Payments Council Newsletter highlights “the testimony of businesses and public sector entities that fully reaped the advantages offered through the implementation of SEPA payment schemes and technical standards. These benefits include:

• streamlined internal processes leading to the easing of the day-to-day running of businesses.
• reduced costs through optimised financial operations and the consolidation of bank accounts
• centralised cash management and improved liquidity management.
• efficiency and integration of the payment business allowing for increased visibility in terms of the rich data that can be seen by the treasury throughout the financial supply chain.
• collection of SEPA Direct Debits has resulted in easy migration into new European markets, access to real time data and less chance for error.”

EPC quote Federico Focardi, group finance director, Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A: "SEPA is an opportunity and a catalyst for change – not simply a compliance issue." 

Yes, but right now for many countries and all sorts and sizes of payers and collectors, it is solely a compliance issue

Country and user compliance
However, at the same time as the EPC Newsletter was issued, a conversation on LinkedIn revealed that apart from Slovenia, none of the 32 countries covered by SEPA (28 of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland), has yet to complete their migration. The most advanced are probably Greece, Belgium and Austria, although the latter two have migration ratios below 20% in SDD. In the four, most consumer’s levies countries (Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands), migration is according to some experts “marginal."

How are these countries going to complete their migration in the next three months? And how on earth are the SMEs, municipalities and regional public authorities - who are less sensitive to the urgency to migrate according to the ECB Report -  going to be ready?