Treasure Management - All about Europe

Question 1

Tell me about SEPA

Answer 1

The Single Euro Payments Area (or “SEPA” for short) anyone can make and receive payments in euro under the same basic conditions, rights and obligations, regardless of their location.

Cross-border or domestic – the accounts of both the payer and payee must be in SEPA country

Question 2

What are some of the advantages of the introduction of SEPA?

Answer 2

– You can make direct debit and Use your debit card anywhere in the euro area.
– Better cross-border bank transfers
– Only one bank account needed for the whole euro area.
– Lower prices for basic payment services in high-cost countries
– Transparent pricing and no hidden charges
* In addition, for corporations:
– Direct debits from anywhere in the euro area
– Handle all euro payments from a single bank account
– Only one terminal for payment cards.

Question 3

What are some SEPA Features?

Answer 3

 Bulk or single payments
 Unlimited transaction amount
 Payment instructions (formats) are in XML
 Handled like ACH transactions
 Each side pays their own fees; fees are not
deducted from the payment amount

Question 4

Give me other SEPA Features (regarding beneficiary)

Answer 4

 The originating bank must credit the beneficiary bank.
 The beneficiary bank must credit the payment to the
beneficiary’s account on the day it receives credit from the payer’s bank. In other words: no float
 140 characters of structured or unstructured remittance data.

Question 5

Give me other SEPA Features (regarding recall)

Answer 5

 Originators and originator banks may recall payments provided:
– They are duplicate payments
– Are a result of a technical problem
– Are fraudulent
– Had been sent to the clearing house less than 10 banking business days ago and not processed yet
 If funds have already been credited to the beneficiary, the beneficiary’s bank can send back recalled payments or unauthorised SEPA payments for up to 13 months provided:
– Local laws allow
– There are sufficient funds available
– The beneficiary consents.

Question 6

What are the benefits of SEPA Direct Debit for collecting regular payments such as subscription?

Answer 6

 Control – enables merchants to ensure that customers will pay their bills on time.
 Retention rates – eliminates failed payments and It also increases customer loyalty by offering a convenient “set it and forget it” payment method.
 Reduced admin time.

Question 7

What are SEPA - other payment types?

Answer 7

 SEPA Cards: card payments (credit or debit)
– enabled consumers to use the same cards they use in
their own country for purchases everywhere in Europe.
 SEPA Mobile: mobile payments
– Under development
 SEPA Cash:
– Improve cross-national handling of EUR cash
– Under development