The turning point for SEPA!?

In the last two months, I’ve seen a major turning point in the European Paymenst space for SEPA. As financial institutions dust themselves off from the financial crisis, it seems that business is back on the radar.

 

With the official deadline for SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) readiness almost upon us, it’s essential that communications around this are effectively targeted at the relevant communities. Much has been said about SEPA Credit Transfers and its influence on the B2B world. However, I would argue that information on SDDs has not been sufficiently communicated to corporates or consumers. For example, it’s unlikely that corporates are fully aware of the changes to direct debit mandate management that SEPA brings about – or how this will impact the way they operate.

 

Is this sparse education around SEPA the result of a lack of political will to let corporates know they can more easily centralise direct debit processing? That they can drive improvements and efficiencies in their treasury and cash management operations? Or is it the banks that are reluctant to communicate these messages? As usual, there will be winners and losers. I have recently seen many of our clients opt for the former by using SEPA – and the change it poses – to retain and attract corporate business.  

 

And what about the consumers? How come public authorities haven’t made them more aware of the advantages of SEPA? This affects around 300 million consumers and I bet the vast majority of them don’t know anything about SEPA. Should there be a European-wide marketing campaign to let people know that direct debits are now free in the eurozone? Or is there too much fear that consumers might walk away from the money making card business?

 

I would really like to see European Commission telling both consumers and corporates what the aim is. In my mind, this is as worthy a campaign as those against smoking or drink driving!

 

I'd like our financial community to send clear communications to consumers about what SEPA means to them. And this should be more than a couple of lines in the middle of a monthly reports, mentioning that “By the way, there are new European payment products”.

 

Fortunately, things are starting to change now and we have seen many financial institutions starting to take an active role in SEPA and driving their business plans forward. Let’s hope SEPA is finally gathering momentum!