Dresdner Bank AG, is the first European bank to connect to the new cross border payment transaction platform of the European Banking Association (EBA), compliant with SEPA standards.
The initial test phase of the EBA platform is planned in order to adapt cross-border payment transactions in the Eurozone to the improved conditions of the “Single Euro Payment Area” (SEPA) at the beginning of 2008. Following the integration of Dresdner’s cash management activities into Dresdner Kleinwort, the investment bank is now leading the SEPA project for the whole of Dresdner Bank.
“Payment transactions and Cash Management are now core businesses of Dresdner Kleinwort,” says Stefan Jentzsch, CEO of Dresdner Kleinwort. “We believe Corporate clients in particular will benefit from the uniform SEPA data formats through improved liquidity management.”
Dresdner Kleinwort considers the standardisation of European payment transactions as a big opportunity for its clients and therefore supports the SEPA initiative.
As of January 2008 the SEPA requirements will be compulsory in the Eurozone. As a result, the period of money-transfers will be shortened from three days to one day in the SEPA zone, by 2012.
“SEPA gives our clients excellent opportunities to further optimise their European cash management,” says Manfred Fleckenstein, Head of Global Cash Management at Dresdner Kleinwort. “Dresdner Kleinwort plans to offer the SEPA services to other financial institutions, as another reason behind its interest in early implementation.”