Research shows SEPA reach still a problem for banks

      

Boston, 1 October 2007: New research sponsored by VocaLink, the transaction specialists, shows that many banks believe that reach will still be a challenge when the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) comes into effect in January. The research was conducted during August and September with a broad range of European and global banks to establish how they are progressing with their SEPA plans.

Martin Wilson, chief marketing officer at VocaLink says, “With SEPA compliance just around the corner, the thought that many European banks do not have a solution for reach is a cause for concern.  However there are a number of partnering solutions available for banks.  At VocaLink we offer a range of low risk options to facilitate reach across the SEPA and beyond, we can bring banks fully into the CSM community within just a few weeks and in time to meet SEPA deadlines.”

The survey also revealed that over half of respondents thought that meeting the January 2008 deadline was unachievable.  This opinion was further reinforced with 81% of banks believing their customers would not migrate payments to SEPA schemes until 2010 or beyond.  The implementation of SEPA direct debits was highlighted as a major focus for banks (35%) however 44% felt that direct debit mandates would be ‘’difficult to manage’’.

The findings did suggest that banks are now turning their attention to how they will support their customers’ needs.  A majority (54%) cited the ability to convince customers of the importance of moving to SEPA instruments as the most significant issue facing their business.  Many respondents are planning to offer value added services, not only to encourage customer migration but to gain a competitive advantage over banks that will only seek to comply.  The value added service highlighted as most important was offering customers the ability to send all payments through a single channel (32%) closely followed by message reformatting (24%).

To obtain a copy of the full report, visit VocaLink.com/SEPA/Research