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SEPA - Single Euro Payments Area

Green paper on cards, internet and mobile payments by the European Commission

The European Commission published a Green Paper, launched a consultation and held a conference on card, internet and mobile payments in Europe. The Eurosystem welcomes the Commission’s initiative and provided its reaction.

SEPA end date regulation

The new regulation establishing 1 February 2014 as an end-date for migration to SEPA credit transfers and direct debits made in euro was published in the Official Journal. Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 entered into force on 31 March 2012. More

SEPA harmonises the way we make and process retail payments in euro.
SEPA enables customers to make cashless euro payments to anyone located anywhere in Europe, using a single payment account and a single set of payment instruments.

If you travel from one euro area country to another, you can easily buy something with euro in cash. But making cashless payments outside your home country, for example with a debit card, is more difficult. This is due to technical, legal and market barriers stemming from the period prior to the introduction of the single currency. SEPA aims to overcome these barriers. The result will be a single market for retail payments in euro.

The single market will extend beyond the euro area and even the European Union (SEPA countries). SEPA is an initiative of the European payments industry. The Eurosystem, the European Commission and other institutions play supporting roles and define the objectives (Stakeholders).

To monitor the usage of the new SEPA payment instruments the Eurosystem compiles SEPA indicators, available as interactive graphs and as data tables for download.

What is SEPA? A video introduction

Language: 19 September 2011

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SEPA indicators at a glance (euro area)
SEPA credit transfers as % of total transactions	27.2 % (*)
SEPA direct debit as % of total transactions	0.5 % (*)
EMV transactions as % of total transactions at POS terminals	79.7 % (**)
() March 2012 (*) December 2011

Publications

For an introduction to SEPA, see
"The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA): an integrated retail payments market". 30-page brochure. Published by the European Central Bank.
July 2009, bg . cs . da . de . el . en . es . et . fi . fr . it . hu . lt . lv . mt . nl . pl . pt . ro . sk . sl . sv
For the latest Progress Report on SEPA, see
Single Euro Payments Area – 7th Progress Report, 1.07 MB de . el . en . es . et . fi . fr . it . nl . pt . sk . sl . sv , press release: de . el . en . es . fi . fr . it . nl . pt . sk . sl . sv (October 2010)
All SEPA policy documents

23/03/2012 - Eurosystem reaction to the European Commission's Green Paper "Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments". More on the Commission's initiative on cards, internet and mobile payments.
19/01/2012 - Monthly Bulletin article [3.08 MB] “Towards an integrated card payments market”. January 2012.
04/11/2011 - Conference proceedings and final working papers of the ECB/OeNB conference on the future of retail payments in May 2011: more
07/10/2011 - Occasional Paper [1.17 MB] on multilateral interchange fees in payment card markets and related issues
31/08/2011 - Speech: Peter Praet: A new voice on a familiar topic – SEPA from the perspective of ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet. Presented at the off-site meeting of the European Payments Council speech
06/06/2011 - European Business Test Panel: SEPA Corporate Survey Report 2011
23/05/2011 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: SEPA in der Praxis – Sicht der Europäischen Zentralbank speech (German)

All

13/05/2011 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: Closing remarks for the conference “The future of retail payments: opportunities and challenges speech
13/05/2011 - ECB and OeNB call for a faster implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area press release
12/05/2011 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: Transformation of the banking business and its impact on retail payments: governance, efficiency and integration speech
08/04/2011 - ECB's opinion on the proposal for a Regulation establishing EU-wide requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro, download
25/11/2010 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: SEPA: a busy year is coming to its end and another exciting year lies ahead, speech
15/11/2010 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: Priorities for Integration, speech
22/10/2010 - 7th SEPA Progress Report: Migration continues but requires realistic but ambitious regulatory end dates, download [1.08 MB], press release: de . el . en . es . fi . fr . it . nl . pt . sk . sl . sv
18/10/2010 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: The Single Euro Payments Area - where do we stand?, speech
06/09/2010 - Book on the payment system and the role of the Eurosystem in this field, download, press release
06/07/2010 - Eurosystem's comment on the European Commission's "Working paper on SEPA migration end date", download
07/06/2010 - SEPA Council meets for the first time, discusses migration end dates and future of SEPA for cards more
05/05/2010 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: SEPA for cards: more than a symbol of SEPA’s success more
28/04/2010 - Speech: Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell: Time ripens all things, and now the time is ripe to reap the benefits from E-invoicing more
30/12/2009 - Working paper: Return to retail banking and payments (Working Paper No. 1135), by Iftekhar Hasan, Heiko Schmiedel and Liang Song, en
30/12/2009 - Conference: Retail payments - integration and innovation (A joint conference by the ECB and de Nederlandsche bank 25 - 26 May 2009) 1.05 MB en [online only]
23/11/2009 - Speech: The Progress of Migration to SEPA, Keynote address by Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB at the British Bankers’ Association, 7th Annual Payments Conference, London, 23 November 2009 more
13/10/2009 - Speech: Payments are becoming European, Speech by Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the EPC SEPA Direct Debit launch event, Brussels, 13 October 2009 more
09/09/2009 - Speech: A single market for cards: the missing piece in the SEPA puzzle, by Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB more
02/09/2009 - Speech - The tiger, the ox and the rat, and the future of retail payments in Europe, by Daniela Russo at the EPC Coordination Committee offsite meeting in Château-de-Limelette en
06/07/2009 - Speech: Implementing SEPA: our expedition to  a fully integrated euro retail payment market, by Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB more
25/05/2009 - Speech: Integration and innovation - The Alpha and Omega of a successful retail payments market in Europe, by Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank more
06/05/2009 - Speech: From fragmentation to integration: could the payment systems experience in Europe be useful for Asia? By Jean-Michel Godeffroy at Payment China 2009 in Beijing en
27/03/2009 - The expectations of the Eurosystem as regards the future of SEPA de, el, en, es, fi, fr, it, mt, nl, pt, sk, sl, sv and form. See also the Press release
24/03/2009 - Joint statement by the European Commission and the European Central Bank clarifying certain principles underlying a future SEPA direct debit (SDD) business model en. See also the Press release
24/03/2009 - Press release: Commission and ECB provide further clarification to ensure timely launch of SEPA direct debit scheme more
23/03/2009 - Terms of reference: SEPA-compliance of card schemes more
16/03/2009 - The Quest for the Holy Grail? – European Financial Integration: Achievements and Hurdles more
24/11/2008 - Press release: SEPA: Significant progress made but concerns need to be addressed without delay (Sixth SEPA progress report), de . el . en . es . fi . fr . it . nl . pt . sk . sl . sv, Sixth SEPA progress report, 652 kb, en
20/11/2008 - Speech: Enhancing infrastructures for the EU financial market more
20/11/2008 - Speech: Do you SEPA? The ECB's point of view more
20/11/2008 - Speech: The role of retail finance for financial markets efficiency and stability more
4/09/2008 - Press release: Commission and ECB support launch of pan-European SEPA Direct Debit; provide guidance to industry more
3/09/2008 - Speech at the EPC Coordination Committee offsite meeting in Château-de-Limelette more
2/07/2008 - Speech: The future of cards and payments: SEPA for cards more
16/06/2008 - Speech at the International Bankers’ Club more
25/04/2008 - Terms of reference: SEPA-compliance of infrastructures more
17/04/2008 - Speech: Corporates in the Single Euro Payments Area: Business as usual? more
12/02/2008 - Speech: SEPA for cards - a great opportunity for Europe? by Jean-Michel Godeffroy at ZKA (Central Credit Committee) information session, 20 kb, en
28/01/2008 - Joint statement by the European Commission and the European Central Bank welcoming the formal launch of SEPA payment instruments by EU banks, bg . cs . da . de . el . en . es . et . fi . fr . hu . it . lt . lv . mt . nl . pl . pt . ro . sk . sl . sv
28/1/2008 - Speech: SEPA goes live more
22/01/2008 - Speech: The Single Euro Payments Area in a global context more
21/1/2008 - Press release: SEPA goes live - official launch of the single euro payments area more
19/11/2007 - Speech: Going the extra mile to be ready for SEPA more
2/11/2007 - Speech: SEPA – New card schemes for Europe by Jean-Michel Godeffroy Télécom-Paris, 30 kb, en
8/10/2007 - Speech: SEPA – three months to go and full steam ahead? more
4/10/2007 - Speech: SEPA – Five minutes to summarise the SEPA by Jean-Michel Godeffroy at Sibos, Boston, 20 kb, en
3/09/2007 - Speech: SEPA – from steam train to TGV? more
22/08/2007 - Publication: The economic impact of the Single Euro Payments Area, by Heiko Schmiedel, ECB Occasional paper No. 71, 1259 kb, en
20/07/2007 - Press release / publication: “SEPA: from concept to reality” - 5th progress report more
14/05/2007 - Speech: The new SEPA landscape from vision to reality (and back) more
8/05/2007 - Speech: Making SEPA a reality – Involving the public sector in the Single Euro Payments Area more
7/05/2007 - Speech: Financial integration, modernisation and competitiveness in Europe: achievements and challenges more
3/05/2007 - Press release / publication: Consultation announcement: oversight framework for card payment schemes more
3/05/2007 - Speech: Modernising payments: 'no pain – no gain' more
24/04/2007 - Press release: Joint statement by the ECB and the Commission welcoming the adoption of the Payment Services Directive more
23/03/2007 - Press release: Regulatory framework and payment systems issues more
12/03/2007 - Speech: The competitiveness of European financial markets. An economic framework for effective policy-making more
13/02/2007 - Speech: The European Central Bank’s view on SEPA more
20/11/2006 - Press release: The Eurosystem’s View of a “SEPA for Cards” more, publication: 91 kb, de . el . en . es . fi . fr . it . nl . pt . sl . sv
13/11/2006 - Speech: Concluding remarks 'SEPA – Opportunities by Change' more
13/11/2006 - Speech: Creating an integrated market for the euro area more
13/11/2006 - Information brochure: SEPA - An integrated retail payments market, 1761 kb, bg . cs . da . de . el . en . es . et . fi . fr . hu . it . lt . lv . mt . nl . pl . pt . ro . sk . sl . sv
23/10/2006 - Speech: Building the Future – Integrating Europe’s Financial Sector more
16/10/2006 - Information brochure: SEPA, The Single Euro Payments Area - an introduction, 258 kb, en
20/09/2006 - Speech: A SEPA for cards: a contribution to a cashless society? more
7/09/2006 - Speech: From theory to practice: let’s roll out the cables more
17/07/2006 - Speech: Preliminary Findings of the Retail Banking Sector Inquiry more
6/07/2006 - Speech: European Financial Integration and the Financial System more
29/06/2006 - Speech: Round table conference on m-Payments more
15/06/2006 - Speech: ABI-SWIFT 'SPIN 2006' Conference on 'The drivers of change: regulation versus competition' more
9/06/2006 - Speech: Drivers for change in payment and securities settlement systems more
7/06/2006 - Speech: What is the outlook for the Single European Payments Area (SEPA)? more
4/05/2006 - Press release: Single Euro Payments Area more
23/02/2006 - Speech: The Lisbon Agenda – what can banks contribute? more
17/02/2006 - Press release / publication: Towards a single euro payments area - 4th progress report more
15/11/2005 - Speech: SEPA: making the dream become a reality more
21/10/2005 - Speech: Regulation, Competition and Integration in EU banking: What Drives Performance? more
14/10/2005 - Speech: Single market for financial services – vision or reality? more
3/10/2005 - Speech: Keeping up the momentum: achieving the SEPA objectives on time more
6/05/2005 - Speech: Interchange in a changing market: Observations from the euro area perspective more
18/10/2004 - Speech: Integration des Europäischen Finanzmarktes und Schaffung eines einheitlichen Zahlungsverkehrsraumes more
21/09/2004 - Speech: Card payments and the European financial integration more
25/04/2005 - Speech: The need for regulatory involvement in the evolution of payment systems more
2/12/2004 - Press release / publication: Towards a single euro payments area - 3rd progress report more
6/09/2004 - Speech: Time to act: clear objectives and a convincing roadmap for the Single Euro Payments Area more
26/06/2003 - Press release / publication: Towards a Single Euro Payments Area - progress report more
30/11/2001 - Press release / publication: Towards an integrated infrastructure for credit transfers in euro more
14/09/2000 - Press release / publication: Improving cross-border retail payment services - Progress report more
30/09/1999 - Press release / publication: Improving cross-border retail payment services in the euro area - the Eurosystem's view more

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SEPA Council Links on SEPA Glossary Press releases relating to payments and securities Publications relating to payments and securities Contact eSEPA & payments innovation

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