Due to the dogged determination of FMS's MD, Gianfranco Tabasso*, in many SEPA committees and steering committees over the last 3-4 years, there is a 140 characters data field in both the SCT and the SDD formats. This could be the springboard, the launch pad for a whole series of improvements in e-commerce business transactions, such as pan-European efficiency improvements - full STP payment processing and Straight-Through Reconciliation - and much more.

However, it depends on so many factors, on so many different parties getting together. The problem is that at the moment, in the rush to achieve SEPA compliance, there is very little mention of the opportunities for changing how companies do business by exploiting the 140 character data field.

Add this to your list of SEPA To Do items:

• As well as achieving efficiency improvements, how can we use the 140 character field to enhance the way we do business?

You could be surprised at how many opportunities there are and how much easier it is to justify spending on SEPA.