Making SEPA simple

The Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) is live. The deadline to change to the new schemes for SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT) and SEPA Direct Debits (SDD) is 1st February 2014. In non-Euro countries the deadline is 31st October 2016. With only months to the deadline it is imperative that organisations act now.

The sweeping changes to the European payments landscape under SCT and SDD will present corporations with a complex set of challenges around compliance. But ultimately the move to standardise payments in the eurozone represents a huge opportunity for corporates to overhaul their cash management and collection processes and leverage their banking relationships.

We are uniquely placed to support Corporates and Banks in meeting the challenges and opportunities of SEPA. Our clients, being Corporates or Banks, are active leaders in the market, using our SEPA solutions not only for compliance but also to secure business advantage.

Making SEPA simple

SEPA is an initiative introduced by the European Commission with the aim of harmonizing payments within the Eurozone. It affects 32 in Europe, not just those that use the Euro. By removing the barriers involved in cross-boarder trading, corporates can operate within the Eurozone more effectively e.g using one bank account. With this simplification of payment processes corporates stand to increase their visibility of cash and in turn improve the cash management.

Regardless of size, if your business operates in the Eurozone - you need to act now. If you are not ready for SEPA by 1st February 2014:

  • Your customers will not be able to pay you by direct debit
  • You will not be able to make payments by credit transfer
  • You will incur fines
  • You will miss out on business
  • Your competitors will take competitive advantage

SEPA ranks among the highest priorities for many of our clients. As such it is a top priority for CGI. Having helped the European Payments Council and Euro Banking Association in the development of SEPA and the rule books, our locally based SEPA experts really understand the issues at hand.

Having been in the payments business for more than 40 years, we are unrivalled when it comes to helping corporates meet the challenges and opportunities of SEPA.

CGI SEPA services

CGI SEPA services is your one-stop-shop for SEPA. Whether you are looking for a comprehensive, fully managed service, a quick conversion of your existing mandates, or tailored consulting, we have the SEPA services to help. Our services include the following:

  • Mandate management (comprehensive, hosted solution for SEPA compliance beyond the February 1, 2014 deadline)
  • One-time migration (simple mandate migration service)
  • SEPA credit transfer (legacy credit transfer conversion and formatting for SEPA)
  • SEPA direct debits (legacy direct debit transfer conversion and formatting for SEPA)
  • Tailored consulting (support for SEPA strategy, assessment, scanning, testing)
  • High-volume printing (support for notifying customers of the move to SEPA and producing mandate packs)
  • Scanning (support for capturing mandates electronically)
  • Archiving (support for either electronic or paper archiving)
  • Payments hub (connectivity and messaging)

Benefits of our SEPA services

Choosing CGI enables you to go beyond compliance requirements to reap the full benefits of SEPA, including the following:

  • Centralized and standardized collections and payments
  • Reduced costs
  • Control of bank and customer payments relationships
  • Improved cash management
  • Visibility of cash
  • Reduced IT resource demands
  • Technology independence and flexiblity
  • Data validation checks
  • True scalability
  • Government grade security