Cash management: The Sepa revolution quietly creeps in

Euromoney Limited, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 15236090

4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX

Copyright © Euromoney Limited 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

Cash management: The Sepa revolution quietly creeps in

Unprecedented co-operation between European banks has, at last, created a single euro payments area. It will transform the cash management business and possibly the whole banking industry. Laurence Neville reports.

Sepa and the PSD: a brief history

What does SEPA involve?

What corporates must do

More Sepa coverage

ON JANUARY 28, 2008, the Single Euro Payments Area becomes a reality. No flags were waved, no confetti was thrown and no Euro-anthems were played. This effort to harmonize national payment systems – seen by some as the culmination of the introduction of the euro and the final stage in the creation of a true single market – debuted without anyone outside the cash management industry even noticing.

Why the deafening silence on such a momentous occasion? To be sure, Sepa has nothing like the popular impact or appeal of the introduction of the euro, which might have contributed to keeping it off the front pages. Perhaps more important, Sepa – although a bank-led initiative – has got bogged down in European Union inertia, resulting in its introduction being staggered, and therefore lessening its impact.

But what about banks, which are at the heart of Sepa? Shouldn’t they be cheerleading its introduction? In truth, an embarrassed hush seems to have descended on some of the leading cash management banks operating in Europe. Having hyped up Sepa and garnered little response from corporates, they have reflected soberly and decided that Sepa should be treated as a marathon – not a sprint.

What

Gift this article