United Kingdom (and EU regulation)

EPC – get ready for the end of the transition period

On 14 July 2020, the European Payments Council issued an article on its website called ‘Brexit from 1 January 2021 onwards: get ready for the end of the transition period’.

Key points in the article include:

During the remainder of the transition period the UK will continue operating within the scope of the payment schemes without any change, due to the fact that existing rules and regulations will continue to apply in the UK. Between 1 February and 31 December 2020, no new requirement will apply, and no changes will be needed for the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) / SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) transactions to and from the UK.
As of 1 January 2021 the UK is set to leave the Single Market. The UK will at that point maintain participation in the SEPA geographical scope, but SCT/SDD rules applicable to transactions from/to non-EEA jurisdictions will be applicable to SCT/SDD transactions with the UK.
The EPC requests all payment service providers to implement without delay certain measures to ensure the continued smooth processing of cross-border SEPA payments involving a UK based SEPA payment scheme participant after 31 December 2020.
SEPA transactions to be executed or settled as of 1 January 2021 involving a UK based SEPA payment scheme participant must contain:
- For SCT and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) instructions from the originator: (i) the full address details of the originator; and (ii) the BIC code of the beneficiary bank when the originator bank explicitly requests this data element from the originator.
- For SDD Core and SDD business-to-business collection files from the creditor: (i) the full address details of the debtor; and (ii) the BIC code of the debtor bank when the creditor bank explicitly requests this data element from the creditor.
The EPC recommends each SEPA payment scheme participant to identify as soon as possible its customers with incoming and outgoing cross-border SEPA transactions involving both a UK and an EEA payment account, and to inform all customers concerned about the need to provide these extra SEPA transaction data as from 1 January 2021 (as execution or settlement date).