SEPA for Corporates

SEPA Is Here! 2

Aug

1

2014

Its been a rollercoaster, and I’m guessing anyone that is reading this post has had quite a ride!!! Today is deadline day for SEPA compliance for all euro currency payments and direct debit collections in the euro-zone countries. It is without a doubt a huge milestone, referred to by the European Central Bank as one ...

SEPA Status – ECB SEPA Statistics – June 2014

Jul

21

2014

The final countdown to the SEPA deadline, 1st August 2014, has started… With just 10 working days remaining, we have learnt a little more from the ECB about the status of the SEPA implementations across the SEPA zone. I recommend reading the SEPA Status – ECB SEPA Statistics – May 2014 post for some specific ...

Starbucks Mobile Payments – So What? 2

Jul

17

2014

Anyone who is closely watching the mobile payments space will constantly hear and read about the explosion of mobile payments in various African countries and the growth of the Starbucks mobile payments app. When you consider these two trends side by side, it is somewhat astonishing. On the one hand you have the enabling, empowerment ...

SEPA Go Live – 4 Things You Need To Do TODAY! 2

Jul

14

2014

With just under 3 weeks to go until the 1st August SEPA Go Live deadline, and keeping in mind the ECB SEPA Statistics for May 2014, there is no doubt that the 6 month deadline extension was absolutely essential. But collectively we’re not quite there, 100% SEPA compliant, yet. I’m guessing that any outstanding SEPA ...

Why Europe Is Not Ready For Virtual Currencies Like Bitcoin 3

Jul

11

2014

The EBA, European Banking Authority, has been watching Virtual Currencies (VC) since September 2013. In December 2013, the EBA publicly highlighted various concerns due to the risks associated with unregulated virtual currencies. A few days ago on 4th July, 2014 the EBA went further and released an EBA Opinion on Virtual Currencies. In this publication ...

Mobile Payments for Newbies – Part 2 3

Jul

7

2014

In the post Mobile Payments for Newbies – An Introduction, an overview of mobile payments and how mobile payments are made is provided. The post also covers the concept of ‘banked’ and ‘unbanked’, and highlights how mobile payments are meeting the needs of consumers and businesses in these 2 very distinct models. This post builds ...

SEPA Status – ECB SEPA Statistics – May 2014 2

Jun

30

2014

As the August 2014 SEPA deadline looms, there is a keen interest from all SEPA stakeholders to understand the share of SEPA transactions as a percentage of the total volume of payments and direct debits in the SEPA zone. Generally the SEPA implementation rate is increasing, but as this article indicates (even based on May ...

Mobile Payments for Newbies – An Introduction 6

Jun

2

2014

There is a lot of hype around mobile payments, almost on a daily basis we’re hearing news about either a new mobile payment service or of a company / partnership that has / intends to enable mobile payments. The mobile payments ‘revolution’ is happening right around us in various ways. This is the first of many posts that will ...

SEPA Banks Must Do Better

May

30

2014

The recent post SEPA Holidays 2014/2015 – YOU Need To Know These Dates highlights the importance of communication and awareness in the ‘new’ SEPA world. The crux of the issue is that we have a ‘clash’ between various national public holidays along side SEPA processing days. For example, yesterday (Thursday 29th May, 2014) many European ...

3 Things You Ought To Know About SEPA BIC 4

May

26

2014

During the course of various SEPA implementations I started to realise that the BIC (Bank Identifier Code) requirement was something to get an understanding of early. The BIC value is one which has various requirements depending on country, transaction type and bank. This post runs through the requirements and highlights three ways in which the BIC ...