gtnews Readers are Not Prioritising SEPA in 2012
A majority of respondents to a gtnews online poll held over the past fortnight on our homepage do not think that the single euro payments area (SEPA) will impact their business in 2012.
In response to the question, with the EC confirming a hard compliance deadline of Feb 2014 for the single euro payments area (SEPA), will SEPA impact your business in 2012? Forty-three people voted ‘no’, indicating that most treasurers and respondents have more immediate concerns on their mind, such as the eurozone crisis and treasury risk management, for the year ahead.
That is not to say that SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) and Credit Transfer (SCT) compliance is not an important issue for treasurers – it is, but as compliance is not due until February 2014 some practitioners seem to be putting it off for the time-being. A certain amount of ‘SEPA fatigue’, with this issue dragging on for the best part of a decade now, is also likely to have influenced the results.
Putting SEPA compliance off this year could potentially be dangerous, however, as last minute solutions are often not the most efficient, but it is an understandable viewpoint with the raft of challenges and another downturn in Europe facing treasury departments at the moment. In the ‘yes’ camp, agreeing that SEPA compliance is still an important consideration for 2012 regardless of these issues, were 28 people, with 15 responding ‘don’t know’ to the gtnews online straw poll.
There is a majority in favour of not prioritising SEPA this year, therefore, out of the 86 people who voted but the issue will not go away. As the February 2014 deadline approaches, SEPA compliance is likely to go up the ‘to do’ list at corporate treasuries.
• The gtnews online poll will become a regular feature on our homepage. This week’s question is: As another crunch looms on the horizon, has cash forecasting in your company become better since the crash of 2008?VOTE NOW and join the linkedin discussion groups on our open friends of gtnews forum and our treasury expert panel.