Hitherto, companies conducting business in several SEPA area countries were obliged to manage accounts in all these countries, which all had different rules and formats for initiating and receiving payments. SEPA will substantially simplify payment management by enabling companies that wish to do so to execute all their transactions centrally from a single account held in any of the SEPA area countries. The relations of companies with their partners (clients/suppliers) will thus become simpler.
Companies conducting business outside the SEPA area will also benefit because SEPA data exchange formats are based on international standards and will therefore make it possible to harmonise the handling of SEPA payments and international payments. For example, companies will be able to use a single tool to manage their credit transfers to all their European creditors (and potentially and ultimately to those located outside Europe). SEPA payments will also enable the end-to-end transmission of more comprehensive remittance data: the purpose of the transaction will be stated in a field of up to 140 characters (up from the 31 characters used in French credit transfers).
More generally, the SEPA project will produce productivity enhancement and economies of scale for companies: optimisation in the cash management, simplification and automation of invoicing.
By facilitating cross-border payments, SEPA will also facilitate the international growth of companies that were previously active on only one market, which will strengthen the openness of the European market.
Companies will also benefit from the increased competition in the payments sector and the modernisation ushered in by the SEPA project. All European companies will therefore enjoy the highest service level available in Europe.