OREANDA-NEWS. On 24 June 2009 was announced, that the European Central Bank and 16 euro area national central banks, taking into account the requests submitted by market participants, prepared a document, which describes the Eurosystem’s expectations regarding the implementation of SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). These expectations and recommendations will assist the providers of payment services (banks and payment institutions) in communicating with the users of services and will help the latter to realise peculiarities and benefits of SEPA payments and to understand what they can expect from their payment services provider.

The Eurosystem hopes that the providers of payment services will ensure to their customers a possibility to initiate and receive SEPA payment orders. The providers of payment services are also invited to assess regularly the services they provide according to the criteria listed in the document and publicly inform market participants about their level of preparedness for SEPA. It is recommended that companies, public sector institutions and natural persons select such provider of payment services that follows SEPA rules and complies with the expectations described in the document.

“This document shows resolute disposition of the Eurosystem towards SEPA. Although the payment market of Lithuania will utilise all SEPA possibilities, when Lithuania enters the euro area, it is important to understand that SEPA is the foundation of the future retail payment market of Europe, therefore, it is necessary to migrate to it as soon as possible. We expect that the participants of Lithuania’s payment market will pay attention to the expectations expressed and recommendations provided by the Eurosystem”, commented Mr. Vaidievutis Geralavicius, a member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and the chairman of the SEPA National Coordination Committee.

The processing of SEPA credit transfers was started in Lithuania in the beginning of 2008, as in other EU Member States. Currently, the possibility to receive SEPA credit transfers is offered by six commercial banks and all foreign bank branches. Two banks offer a possibility of initiating SEPA credit transfers, while the remaining banks plan to be prepared for it by the end of 2009. The majority of Lithuanian banks already now comply with the SEPA requirements for payment cards, whereas the rest of them plan to comply with these requirements by the end of 2010.

SEPA is a single euro payment area where all cashless retail euro payments are treated as domestic payments, regardless of the place of residence of a payer and a receiver. Currently SEPA covers all EU Member States, as well as Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Switzerland. Private customers, companies and other economic entities may send and receive domestic and cross-border euro payments under the same conditions, rights and obligations.