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SEPA EuroPayment

SEPA EuroPayment is intended for:

SEPA EuroPayment can be used by all KB clients who make cashless payment in EUR within the European Union, plus Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland (SEPA region).

Characteristics of SEPA EuroPayment:

SEPA EuroPayment - this is a European Council project for payment systems. The aim is to integrate the payment system and create a single euro payment area. It will enable payers to make cashless payments to the credit of payees anywhere in the eurozone using a single account and a single system of payment tools (division into national and cross-border payment within the eurozone will be abolished). The project started up on 28 January 2008 with the SEPA Credit Transfer product (SCT, SEPA cashless payments).

SEPA area = EU 27 + Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland. Banks in French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and Gibraltar also voluntarily accept the SEPA rules.

Basic elements of SEPA:

single payment currency (EUR)
single set of payment tools
effective infrastructure for payment in euros
uniform technical standards
uniform operating procedures
harmonised legal basis
continuous development of new services oriented towards customers

Three payment schemes of SEPA:

SEPA cashless transfer

available from 2008, (KB - forecast in the 2nd quarter of 2008, payments "Issued", payments "Came to", since 3. 3. 2008)
D+3, forecast D+1 from 2010 (to the account of the bank of the recipient, which is obliged to add the payment to the account of the recipient on that day)
mass payments (2010)

SEPA direct debit

2010
a different system currently applies in the Czech Republic

SEPA payments made by debit cards/credit cards

Main characteristics of SEPA payments:

transfer always done in EUR
neither amount transferred nor account currencies are limited
unique identification of client's account (IBAN) and bank (BIC) - EUR payments in the SEPA area without IBAN or BIC from 1 January 2007 - can be returned or rejected and the bank can charge for it. Such a case is not SEPA EuroPayment.
amount transferred between client accounts in full
transaction charges are shared by the payer and recipient
amount transferred within a maximum of 3 days from the date when the order is received (from 2010 by the next day, at KB for direct banking clients D+1 already from 2008)
option of using additional payment characters (140 characters), which will be transferred to the recipient in unchanged form
data transferred Bank-Bank in XML format (according to ISO 20022)

What SEPA does not bring:

SEPA does not bring a levelling of prices (service charges) within the standardisation. It is not about prices being the same for all banks but about every bank charging the same amount for euro payments - domestic and international.

All banks in the EU are obliged according to EC Regulation No. 2560/2001 on cross-border payments in euros to apply the same prices (charges) for euro cross-border payments up to EUR 50 thousand as for domestic euro interbank payments (it can vary within the bank).

Benefits of EuroPayment:

Simplicity

You only need one account for all your payment transactions in euros within the SEPA area.
Uniform format for all your cashless payments in EUR.

Speed

The system provides a maximum guaranteed period for making the payment, and therefore also the benefit of foreseeing the processing period for all parties.
Speed of processing payment in 2008 up to three days after the date of receipt of payment order, from 2010 within one day from the date of receipt of payment order.

Transparency

Payments are made in their full amounts - possibility of correspondent banks charging is eliminated.
The payer and the recipient of the payment pay payer charges and recipient charges separately.

Efficiency

Same format enables automated payment processing.
New data field (140 characters) enables wider specification of SEPA payments for the recipient.
Option of sending Client - Bank data in XML format.
Unification of payment conditions will bring a reduction in costs.

How to get information about the SEPA EuroPayment product?

If you are interested in finding out more about this product, contact your bank adviser or call the KB Infoline freephone at 800 111 055.

From March 3, 2008 the Komercni Banka accepts EuroPayments. Payors, who are using this type of method for foreign payment, may do so through the KB, which is listed on the banks' list that are members of SEPA.

The estimated date of SEPA EuroPayment "Issued", as stated by KB, is in the 2nd Q. 2008.