BERLIN - The Single Euro Payments Area, better known as SEPA, for debit cards is becoming a reality in Europe, according to the Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes. EAPS's rule-set for SEPA payments has been released to European banks and payment schemes for review. And the rules have been presented to the European Commission and the European Central Bank for review.
According to a news release, EAPS is working to link existing national debit card schemes to create a pan-European network by Jan. 1, 2008.
EAPS, founded in mid-2006, is a consortium led by debit-card schemes in Europe to develop a cost-effective, high-performance solution for SEPA-compliant card payments. Consortium partners include Electronic Cash (Germany), PagoBancomat/Bancomat (Italy), Multibanco (Portugal), EURO 6000 (Spain), Link (United Kingdom) and EUFISERV (pan-European ATM system). The schemes represent more than 228 million of the payment cards issued in Europe, more than 2 million POS terminals and 200,000 ATMs.
After January 2008, cards of participating schemes will be accepted at the ATMs and POS terminals throughout Europe's participating schemes.
Debit-card schemes in Europe that meet the requirements of the SEPA Cards Framework of the European Payments Council are invited to participate, but participation is not mandatory, EAPS says. EAPS also expects to found a non-profit Alliance, which will be based in Brussels, during the second half of the year.
EAPS will release an Alliance logo, which will be placed on SEPA-compliant ATMs and POS terminals for cardholder recognition. The logo also will appear on newly issued cards from participating bank networks.
