2014-01-28
The SEPA website presents innovations on the Single Euro Payments Area, relevant to payment service users
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) project is presented on the new website (www.sepa.lt) that is dedicated to helping Lithuania’s companies, the public sector and residents to prepare for the innovations and utilise them, when in the upcoming few years there will no longer remain any differences between national and international electronic payments in euro in the European Union.
"The Bank of Lithuania, together with the Association of Lithuanian Banks, aiming to more broadly inform payment service users of the foreseen changes in the field of electronic payments, created a website. The experience of the euro area countries shows that in this project, besides technical solutions, which need to be implemented, it is very important to increase knowledge on the SEPA project, and this would help market participants prepare in time for the changes and successfully make use of their advantages", says Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Chairman of the SEPA Coordinating Committee of Lithuania.
Currently, the SEPA area covers 34 countries, which include Lithuania. The goal of the SEPA project — to perform credit transfers in euro and direct debit operations in euro on the integrated market according to the same payment schemes, applying the same basic conditions, rights and liabilities. This is used to ensure in the payment market a higher level of services, stronger competition, more effective products and cheaper methods for making payments and to create conditions for innovations and new services.
In eighteen euro area states the deadline for payment service providers and users to transition to SEPA requirements — by 1 February 2014, however, payment service providers can define an additional transitional period of six months (to 1 August 2014). Taking into account our country’s goal to adopt the euro in early 2015, SEPA requirements in Lithuania should come into effect no later than by 1 January 2016. In other non-euro area states, the SEPA requirements will have to come into effect by no later than 31 October 2016.
Lithuania’s SEPA website announces information on the SEPA project, important for both businesses and the public sector, residents, answers to questions that arise for payment service users. The information will be constantly updated.