1 February 2016 is another milestone for the migration to SEPA

From today, a new rule means that Eurozone banks and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) can process Sepa payments using only a customer’s Iban, meaning that they no longer need the Business Identifier Code (BIC) of the PSP they are intending to pay.

1 February 2016 marks the end of the exemptions regarding the use of the International Bank Account Number (IBAN), the Business Identifier Code (BIC) and the ISO 20022 XML message standards, according to the European Payments Council.

Regulation (EU) 260/2012 (the Single Euro Payments Area – SEPA – Regulation) allowed EU Member States in the euro area to postpone the deadline for the adoption of these features by end-users and for the conversion of some ‘niche products’, from 1 February 2014 until 1 February 2016. Several EU Member States had made use of that option to partially derogate from the 1 February 2014 SEPA migration end-date.

With this deadline now complete, the last remaining milestone for the migration to SEPA is 31 October 2016, which is the deadline for migration to SEPA in non-euro countries.

Although the rule does not apply to the UK until October, Payments UK has worked with Swift to build a Sepa Iban-only directory that provides PSPs with a way of deriving the BIC from the Iban, ensuring Eurozone firms have the information they need to route Sepa payments to British beneficiaries.

The directory can either be downloaded, integrated for access via an API into the end user’s back office systems, or accessed through the individual lookup facility, which is free to use from swift.com.

Maurice Cleaves, chief executive, Payments UK, says: „Payments UK has worked across the industry, with a wide range of stakeholders, both nationally and in Europe, to build a clever tool to support the introduction of this new regulatory change that comes into effect today.

„Our directory, which includes data for over 95% of UK Sepa reachable BICs, goes truly above and beyond, boasting a technologically superior offering. By incorporating open API criteria into the software, we are demonstrating the emphasis we place on making payments efficient – streamlining and simplifying processes for the end user – and harnessing the latest technology to help us in that regard.”

Source: europeanpaymentscouncil.eu