Fifty two per cent of corporates in the SEPA zone have not yet started their SEPA project, and almost a quarter of these have not even started to investigate the issue. This is the key finding from a recent survey by EuroFinance, a provider of cash management, treasury and risk conferences, training and research. The survey was sponsored by Deutsche Bank.

The results also revealed a lot of uncertainty about what is required for payments to be SEPA compliant by the February 2014 deadline. Thirty one per cent of treasury and finance professionals inside the SEPA zone state that they do not know exactly what will be required. "February 2014 is worryingly close," says Katharine Morton, director of programming at EuroFinance. "It's interesting to see how few companies even inside the Eurozone have got their SEPA compliance plans actually in action, and of those, how many are simply going for the basics. It's understandable, though. Companies have also told us that they are still concerned that the dates may slip again and that they could have challenges getting buy-in from IT departments."

“These findings come as no surprise to us as they echo our interactions,” comments Andrew Reid, head of trade & cash solutions EMEA at Deutsche Bank. “In our experience, clients fall into two categories: those who are actively looking to maximise the benefits of SEPA, and those who have yet to finalise migration plans despite the looming deadline. For this latter – and sizeable – community, the clock is ticking louder than ever, and they must really act now, if they are to reach SEPA compliance at a minimum without incurring undue cost and complexity.”

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