See this article:
During the 6th international EPCA Conference Michael Steinbach, Chairman of the Board of Directors announced the opening of Equens' first representative office in Helsinki, Finland. Equens signed a contract with OP Bank Group Finland. As of mid-2007, Equens will process EU regulation payments via its advanced ZVS-processing platform on behalf of OP Bank Group. The signing can be considered as a milestone because this is the first time that a Finnish bank outsources its payment processing to a foreign full-service payment processor. The representive office has been opened on 3 May 2007 and can be seen as a next step in the realisation of Equens' ambition to become one of the major and prevailing processors in Europe.
During this conference Equens' Chairman of the Board of Directors Michael Steinbach gave an overview of the SEPA developments in the coming years. And I noted in the article/press release that it was a realistic view. Steinbach stated: "It will take at least several years for SEPA-products to become mature. Product developments like e- and m-payments and e-invoicing for SEPA will further extend the SEPA-products. Eventually, standardised connections between the euro-domestic payments market and other major economies can lead to a worldwide standardised payment society. Beyond SEPA internationalisation will continue on a global scale. Global customers will look for global payment solutions and further scale increase can be achieved by combining volumes for example in the European and American market. This globalisation however will not have the political motivation that SEPA has. Globalisation will therefore be market-driven".
Quite a realistic sound on SEPA. Much better than all those regulators that still keep thinking 2010 is the deadline for major migration to SEPA.
