The course has been set for SEPA

The European Payments Council completes SEPA preparations

Berlin, 8 March 2006 - The European banking industry has now met the major requirements for the implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), as the leading associations of the German banking industry which together make up the ZKA (Zentraler Kreditausschuss) announced today in Berlin. The European Payments Council (EPC), the European banking industry's most important authority with regard to euro payment transactions, today approved the new European schemes for credit transfers, direct debits and the SEPA Cards Framework.

Thus the banking industry has compiled a set of forward-looking solutions for the future European payment instruments within an extremely short time. According to the ZKA, these new European schemes form a good foundation for the development of European banking products. Furthermore, they are flexible enough to take into account the varying user requirements during product development. The ZKA expects that the EU Commission and the European Central Bank will provide constructive support for the process of creating the SEPA with regard to self-regulation and recognise the SEPA procedures adopted today as a reliable basis for the banks' future planning.

In order to meet the schedule for the implementation of the SEPA, a uniform legal framework is now required for the European direct debit, for which the EU commission is responsible. Sufficiently harmonised legal frameworks for credit transfers and card payments already exist.

The banking industry plans to make the European products available to bank customers in 2008 in addition to the existing payment instruments. However, the replacement of currently established national payment schemes will depend on the development of the market.