The European Payments Council (EPC) has issued a factsheet on the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) for public administrations, entitled 'Creating critical mass for the Single Euro Payments Area'.

SEPA will come into effect between 2008-2010, so it is vital that the public sector and its bodies and agencies, especially in the euro area, make a start on concrete preparations. This will involve investments in systems and processes. The enormous number of payments generated and received by the public sector make it a crucial part of the success of the SEPA venture. The fact sheet is designed to be an easily understood outline of SEPA, with a breakdown of the role of the public sector, a checklist of benefits that it will bring, and guidelines on how to make SEPA a reality.

SEPA, a major political and economic harmonisation measure, is designed to support the Lisbon Agenda, stimulate economic growth and encourage small and large business activity across the single market. The European Commission has underlined that SEPA will be a stimulus for other related developments such as eInvoicing, beyond the programme itself.

The new SEPA payment instruments require critical mass to deliver the promised efficiency and cost gains, and the public sector can make a significant contribution towards building economies of scale and reducing the period of duplicated infrastructure.

Public administrations will also benefit considerably from the use of the new SEPA services, which will enable simplification, rationalisation, the potential for cost cutting, and greater efficiency. Through early adoption, they will protect themselves from being left behind.

Further information:

• European Payments Council 
• SEPA Factsheet