The European Commission has approved a proposal to extend the deadline for Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) format by six months, to reduce the risk of disruption to payments for consumers and businesses.
Internal market and services commissioner, Michel Barnier, said that the proposal for an additional transition period of six months is for those payment services users who are yet to migrate.
Although the proposal does not change the formal deadline of 1 February 2014, it recommends an extra transition period of six months to 1 August 2014, during which payments that differ from the SEPA format can be accepted.
SEPA is an area where more than 500 million citizens, over 20 million businesses and European public authorities can make and receive payments in euro under the same basic conditions, rights and obligations, independent of their location.
As of today, migration rates to SEPA for credit transfers and direct debits are not high enough, despite the work already carried out.
