SEPA The First Cracks Appear

Getting all 27 moving parts in Europe to work together was a challenge from the outset, but a two-speed Europe is emerging, which threatens to undermine all the SEPA efforts. SEPA can only move as fast as the slowest member state and with the French National SEPA Committee announcing that SEPA direct debits would only be available from November 1, 2010, in France, the cracks are growing and will ultimately lead to a confusing landscape for consumers that will have a significant negative impact on take-up (and profitability) for new services.