Is SEPA Becoming a Game of Two Halves?

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May 15, 2013, 07:51 ET

LONDON, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

AccessPay CEO Ali Moiyed Presents his Views on State of SEPA Migration

As the SEPA end date approaches and the time left to implement SEPA migration plans begins to run out, are signs emerging to suggest that large corporates face a different SEPA experience to smaller firms and is everyone in danger of losing momentum at this critical stage of the re-organization process? AccessPay founder and SEPA expert Ali Moiyed responds to the SEPA musings of Anne Coghlan, head of group treasury at Dyson.

Earlier this month, Anne Coghlan, head of group treasury at Dyson, discussed how her firm had managed preparations for SEPA migration in readiness for the SEPA deadline in February 2014.

You can watch her exclusive conversation with Finextra, filmed at the recent Swift Business Forum in London here, but put simply, Coghlan had one key message for the treasury teams responsible for SEPA migration and it focused on the dangers of losing momentum.

In an interesting take on the way that Europe has prepared for introduction of the new regulations governing SEPA payments, Coghlan said that the fact that SEPA has "been around so long" creates a risk that treasurers and finance teams start to lose momentum and take their foot off the gas at exactly the time when most corporates should be ramping up their preparation for SEPA conversion.

In Dyson's case, much of the SEPA migration process is complete. They managed the SEPA conversion process smoothly by re-tendering their banking relationship, creating a catalyst for switching over to SEPA-compliant file formats.

In fact, Coghlan was very positive about banks, saying she couldn't fault the consultative support provided from the banks advising and consulting on the best ways to plan and implement a SEPA migration process, offering optimal strategies to help corporates seizes the opportunities that SEPA presents.

That's good to hear, but unfortunately, when it comes to corporates even one step down in size from giant brands like Dyson, the story can be quite different. Realistically, there simply aren't enough banking consultants to go around and for many corporates - even relatively large ones, the risk of failing to comply with SEPA regulations is becoming only too real.

In many corporate finance departments, the lack of momentum that Coghlan warns against has taken root, underlined by the varying estimates that suggest huge numbers of businesses have so far failed to take any SEPA migration action at all.

For these firms, waiting for the banks to step in and help is simply not an option. Not only are banks struggling with their own SEPA migration projects but, furthermore, there simply aren't enough consultants or enough spare time.

Instead, the time has come to de-risk SEPA migration and for many, that will mean turning to payment service providers like AccessPay. Buying in valuable time and expertise is rapidly becoming the only way for firms to guarantee SEPA readiness and avoid the hefty fines that will follow non-compliance.

It's time for the entire corporate world, not only the large brands like Dyson, to wake up to the onset of SEPA and high time that SEPA migration plans were begun.

SEPA holds the key to a faster, cheaper and more efficient payments industry; to lose momentum now would be a crime.

About AccessPay

AccessPay provides next-generation, cloud-based solutions to transform payments, cash management and treasury systems for banks and corporates throughout Europe.

We specialize in SEPA implementations, using our all-in-one SEPA solution to help clients of all sizes to leverage the opportunities of SEPA whilst ensuring regulatory compliance.

Our web modules drive efficiency and reduce IT costs whilst our file and channel agnostic approach supports rapid SEPA migration with minimal disruption to legacy systems and IT.

Our all-in-one SEPA solution covers SEPA Direct Debit, SEPA Credit Transfer, Payment PreValidation, IBAN and BIC validation, real-time reporting, cloud based cash management, SEPA mandate management, seamless integration, secure mobile access, reconciliation module and reconciliation module.

You can watch our SEPA video at http://www.accesspay.com/sepa.html.

Visit http://www.accesspay.com for more details or contact: [email protected]

SOURCE AccessPay