Päivi Heikkinen, Bank of Finland: SMEs too must prepare for SEPA soon
Small and medium-sized companies are following in the wake of large companies, in taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the Single Euro Payments Area, SEPA, but still too slowly. The Bank of Finland and a company well ahead with its SEPA preparations have the same message for corporate financial professionals: why postpone the inevitable when you can claim the benefits now?
“In Finland and elsewhere in Europe, large companies are relatively well prepared for the transfer to SEPA, but SMEs are providing cause for concern. They often lack the resources and expertise for mapping out what the transfer to SEPA might offer,” said Päivi Heikkinen, payment system policy adviser at the Bank of Finland, at OpusCapita’s professional seminar in Helsinki. Currently, Ms. Heikkinen operates as an expert at the European Central Bank, in Frankfurt am Main.
According to Ms. Heikkinen, companies no longer have any reason to postpone preparations for the transition and wait for better, more ready solutions:
“Basic European payment services such as account transfer and direct transfer already exist, as do Finnish complementary services. Since software updates are a normal part of the process, as the standard develops, the future development of solutions should form no impediment to the transfer to SEPA,” commented Heikkinen.
She also encouraged companies throughout Europe to seize on the opportunity presented by the mandatory change, which will push companies into streamlining their financial administration and increasing automation, while improving efficiency in the long run. In addition, she pointed out that SEPA will eventually affect all companies, even those without cross-border payments.
“As the transfer progresses, many domestic companies are likely to find that their old ‘domestic’ suppliers or customers have centralised their payments under SEPA. Through the resulting business transactions, domestic payments will form part of European payments.”
According to Ms. Heikkinen, software houses and accounting companies play a vital role in supporting the SME sector. When planning to transfer to SEPA, companies should consider which services they really need, since under SEPA payment details will also be unified. Additional services offered by the banks will build a bridge between the information in current domestic payments and SEPA payments.
“Why wait when you can claim the benefits immediately?”
Travel agency, Kaleva Travel Oy, sets an encouraging example to those who fear that the changeover to SEPA will entail a massive system project.
During the early winter, Finland’s largest private travel agency decided to find out what SEPA will actually mean to a company, and how it should best proceed with it. Based on the information they received, they were able to view the mandatory change as a cost saving opportunity. There was the potential to handle tens of thousands of foreign payments as domestic payments in the SEPA area, for the same price, in the same format and just as quickly.
The transfer to SEPA has been planned and will be implemented in phases, in cooperation with OpusCapita. Kaleva Travel has 18 offices in Finland and affiliates in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. All of its bank connections will transfer to SEPA at the same time.
“Why wait when you can claim the benefits immediately?” asked Tamara Liimatainen, Finance Manager, Kaleva Travel, at the OpusCapita seminar.
OpusCapita software Group specialises in the automation of monetary processes such as liquidity management systems and the supporting finance and electronic invoice processing solutions. The company is a forerunner in the development of SEPA solutions in Europe. This new technology has undergone a long period of testing in tandem with several banks. As a result, OpusCapita can offer its customers a range of options for reaping the benefits of SEPA and the possibility to transfer to SEPA immediately.
Further information:
Päivi Heikkinen, European Central Bank, +49 69 1344 5385, paivi.heikkinen(at)ecb.int
Päivi Karesjoki, Regional Manager, OpusCapita, +358 20 7463 235, paivi.karesjoki(at)opuscapita.com
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