Danish banks ready for Sepa

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COPENHAGEN – Payments provider Payment Business Services (PBS) says it has signed contracts with 117 Danish banks to provide outsourced payment services compliant with the new Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa), before its launch next Monday.

Sepa is designed to remove cross-border barriers on payments by allowing them to be undertaken across the European Union as easily as if they were domestic payments within member states.

Denmark is not in the eurozone, but its banks – like those in the UK – will still need to comply with Sepa’s rules.

“Although Denmark is not a euro country, we are fully aware where the future market lies. We want to be ready in time, and we welcome that PBS, with whom we have a well-established business relationship, is capable of bringing this service to market,” says Anders Dam, chief executive officer of Jyske Bank.

By harmonizing payments across Europe, Sepa is expected to intensify competition, with the biggest banks predicted to consolidate their share of cross-border payments and smaller banks expected to outsource payments to providers such as PBS.

The first Sepa payment instrument for credit transfers is being launched by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Payments Council on January 28.