JPMorgan Treasury Services reported that long-time client ED&F Man has achieved over an 80% improvement in Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) compliant payments.
“By combining JPMorgan’s communication program to help customers format payments for improved straight through processing (STP) with ED&F Man’s own proactive approach to market changes, ED&F Man now benefits from increased efficiency and reduced costs for their payments business,” stated a news release from the company.
EU Regulation 2560/2001 was introduced in July 2003 with the aim of bringing the cost of cross-border euro payments in line with that of domestic payments. In response, the European Payments Council’s Inter-bank Convention on Payments (ICP) established a set of criteria stipulating how payments should be formatted for STP. Many banks have responded by imposing inter-bank charges, of varying amounts invoiced at variable times, which ultimately end up being claimed from customers for payments that do not meet these criteria.
John Watkins at ED&F Man, said, “As a result of changes in the European payments landscape, such as new International Bank Account Number requirements and the potential for SEPA non compliant fees to be levied, we have modified our systems and processes. We have also worked to create a more disciplined approach to payment formats and work very hard to analyze and correct any non-compliant payment formatting. JPMorgan’s approach in providing advice on the financial and formatting impacts of these new regulations has helped us see real benefits in overall STP.”