The 6 month SEPA deadline delay does not necessarily mean that you now have until 1st August, 2014 to ensure SEPA compliance within your organisation. The SEPA deadline transition, from 1st February to 1st August 2014, has brought about a lot of confusion between concerned parties. The confusion lies in the recent SEPA deadline amendment to Regulation (EU) 260/2012 which essentially gives PSP’s (Payment Service Providers) the choice to process legacy formats until 1st August 2014. The amendment does not say PSP’s must process legacy formats until 1st August. So, its down to each country to share how the payment service providers should handle legacy processes and formats until 1st August. They can either continue to support legacy / non-SEPA formats and processes until 1st August 2014, or the in-country authorities can impose their own earlier SEPA deadline.
The intention of this post is to share with you the various country SEPA deadlines. Hopefully this will help avoid any last minute surprises and ensure you’re ready.
The source is the ECB website: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/sepa/about/countries/html/index.en.html#sheets
Austria:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st August, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st August, 2014
Belgium*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st April, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st April, 2014
Cyprus:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st August, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st August, 2014
Estonia*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st February, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st February, 2014
Finland*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st February, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st February, 2014
France*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: To be confirmed
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: To be confirmed
Germany:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st August, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st August, 2014
- Direct debit format “Abbuchungsauftrags- lastschriftverfahren” will be discontinued on 1 February 2014
Greece:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st August, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st August, 2014
Ireland*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 31st March, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 31st March, 2014
Italy*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st February, 2014
- Legacy formats can be accepted by PSPs in exceptional circumstances that will be monitored by Banca d’Italia
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st February, 2014
- Legacy formats can be accepted by PSPs in exceptional circumstances that will be monitored by Banca d’Italia
Luxembourg*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st February, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 31st July, 2014
The Netherlands:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st August, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st August, 2014
Portugal:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st August, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st August, 2014
Slovakia*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st February, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st February, 2014
Slovenia*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 1st February, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 1st February, 2014
Spain*:
- SEPA Credit Transfer deadline: 18th March, 2014
- SEPA Direct Debit deadline: 10th March, 2014
I think you can debate the rights/wrongs of how the SEPA deadline delay / transition has been handled. The various deadlines will arguably exacerbate the confusion! In my opinion, it is what it is, we just need to ensure we’re ready and the best way to do that is to stay informed. Hope this post has helped you. if it has don’t forget to share it with your friends / colleagues. And of course, let me know your opinions / thoughts below….
Pingback: Official - SEPA Deadline Extended to 1st August - SEPA for Corporates
Dear Sir,
I am a bit puzzled with your article regarding SEPA deadline extension. How can we get countries having officially obtained waiver from Authorities until Fenruary 2016 (i.e Spain, Italy, Greece…) now with revised obligations set on 2014 whatever before or on August 2014.
Kind Regards
Jacques
Hi Jacques,
Thank you for your comment. To be clear, the deadline (as it stands!) for pay instruments that have been waived till Feb 2016 remains in place.
Here we are speaking about those pay instruments that were due to be replaced by SEPA pay instruments in Feb 2014. Following the recent deadline delay announcements the Feb 2014 deadline has been extended till August 2014.
But the August 2014 deadline is not as clear cut as everyone first thought. The ability of the various national authorities to set their own SEPA 2014 deadline, in advance of 1st August, has caused some confusion.
It is what it is. The objective of the post is to make people aware of the differing deadlines, and in turn ensure they are ready.
Hope that helps you.
Best Regards – SEPA-for-Corporates
Pingback: Belgium - Migrating DOM80 to SEPA Direct Debit - SEPA for Corporates
Pingback: MT940 File Format Overview - SEPA for Corporates
Pingback: SEPA Mobile Payments - An Introduction - SEPA for Corporates
Pingback: 3 Things You Ought To Know About SEPA BIC - SEPA for Corporates
Pingback: SEPA Status - ECB SEPA Statistics - June 2014
Pingback: 7 Common XML Payments Errors You Need To Know