Working groups of the National SEPA Committee

The National SEPA Committee has set up 5 working groups and a legal support group.

Task: to determine the French range of payment instruments that will migrate to SEPA payment instruments and that will be made available as of 2008. These payment instruments will replace those currently used in France by end 2012. This working group is responsible for determining the future of each national payment instrument within the SEPA framework, whilst ensuring no deterioration of current level of service.

Task: to define the process for migrating French direct debit authorisations to SEPA Direct Debit mandates.

Task: to organise the transition from using RIB bank account identification codes to using IBAN and BIC. The IBAN is the only type of account identification and the BIC is the only bank identifier used by SEPA Credit Transfers and Direct Debits. SEPA implementation will therefore require that the IBAN and BIC codes be used to identify bank accounts and banks in all transactions, including national.

Task: to organise the transition of the various stakeholders toward SEPA payment instruments and standards in the 2008 – 2012 period. The organisation and planning of the transitional period – which begins in 2008 when the SEPA instruments are first made available and ends in 2012 when SEPA migration is completed – must be discussed by all stakeholders to ensure that the instruments deployed in 2008 are widely accepted and that the "old" and new instruments may coexist as smoothly as possible and only for as long as necessary.

Task: to organise the communication concerning SEPA project implementation. This includes identifying needs, defining tools, setting a timetable and ensuring that communication in France is consistent with the overall communication strategy for Europe.

Task: to answer any legal questions that the other working groups of the National SEPA Committee may have.