OREANDA-NEWS. On January 28, 2007 SEPA (Single Euro Payment Area) payment instrument for credit transfers was launched on the territory of the European Union, reported the press-centre of Bank of Lithuania.

„It is a very important event in realising a single payment service market in Europe. SEPA will enable customers of commercial banks to make cashless payments in euros to anyone located anywhere in the euro area using a single bank and a single set of payment instruments. All retail euro payments will be considered domestic. This will be more convenient for customers; also, sometimes payments will be cheaper", Vaidievutis Geralavicius, a member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and the chairman of the SEPA National Coordination Committee, says.

Mr Geralavicius also mentioned that Lithuania will be able to enjoy full benefits offered by SEPA only after the country enters the euro area.

According to the data collected by the Association of Lithuanian Banks, three Lithuanian commercial banks and one foreign bank branch have already created conditions for their customers to receive and initiate SEPA credit payments. Another three credit institutions for the meantime are just offering a possibility to receive such payments.

The SEPA direct debit payment is to be offered later since legal regulation of direct debit operations is closely related with the directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market.

Lithuania has a dual role in the SEPA project. First, the Bank of Lithuania coordinates national efforts for introducing SEPA standards. Second, the Bank of Lithuania controls national payment systems, which after SEPA standards are introduced could be used for the SEPA payments. Following the initiative of the Bank of Lithuania, domestic commercial banks, foreign bank branches, the Association of Lithuanian Banks together with the Bank of Lithuania formed the SEPA Coordination Committee. The goal of this committee is to work out a plan for payment instruments to meet SEPA standards and guarantee, within its competence, compliance with this plan during the move from existing payment instruments to SEPA payment instruments. Seven work groups were formed to deal with specific issues.

Today, the European Central Bank and European Commission welcomed the official launch of SEPA and acknowledged the substantial preparatory work undertaken by European banks, under the aegis of the European Payment Council, to create SEPA.

The European Payments Council has continued to work over the new euro payment rules and procedures. Not only representatives of the concerned participants of the euro area have been recruited for this work, but also representatives of other EU countries such as Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.