SEPA Payment Schemes ISO 20022 Migration Delayed

The European Payments Council (EPC) has decided to postpone the migration of SEPA payment schemes to the ISO 20022 2019 version. The delay, set for four months until March, comes after the determination that at least two large SEPA countries would not meet the original November deadline.

Four Schemes Affected by the Delay

The delay affects four SEPA schemes: SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit Core, and SDD Business-to-Business. These were all initially set to migrate on 19 November. However, the EPC found that operational delays and the need for additional testing meant some countries were not ready for this change.

Proceeding with the original migration date would have negatively influenced payment service providers within these countries. It could have also affected cross-border SEPA transactions, potentially causing widespread impacts throughout the region.

New Migration Date Announced

Recognizing the potential implications, the EPC has established a new migration date. The four SEPA payment schemes will now move to the ISO 20022 2019 version on 17 March 2024.

Giorgio Andreoli, EPC’s director general, expressed gratitude to those SEPA payment scheme participants and CSMs who were ready for the initial migration. He emphasized that the “reachability, stability, and integrity of the SEPA payment schemes” remained the highest priority. Andreoli reassured stakeholders that the EPC would take every possible step to ensure the success of the migration on the newly proposed date.