SEPA

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a self-regulatory initiative for the European banking industry championed by the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB). SEPA promises to simplify and harmonize the processes related to cross-border payments in the European community, making it easier for citizens to complete financial transactions with less cost and inefficiencies. 

The aim of the SEPA initiative is to improve the efficiency of cross border payments and the economies of scale by developing common standards, procedures, and infrastructure. The SEPA territory currently consists of 33 European countries -- the 28 EU states, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway and Switzerland.

Part of that infrastructure includes two new SEPA instruments that were introduced in 2008:

• SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) - a Payables transaction in Oracle EBS
• SEPA Core Direct Debit (SDD) - a Receivables transaction in Oracle EBS

The SEPA Cards Framework (SCF) allows competing banks to create new SCF-compliant debit and credit card 

offerings, within the guidelines laid out by the SEPA authorities. 

Within the Oracle E-Business Suite of applications, Oracle Payables (AP), Oracle Receivables (AR), and Oracle Payments (IBY) provide SEPA transaction capabilities.