The clearing arm of the Euro Banking Association (EBA Clearing) says that its Step2 ACH platform is ready to begin processing Sepa Direct Debits, in line with the forthcoming November 2 deadline for the introduction of the new payment instruments.
EBA Clearing says it has successfully supported 71 SDD Core banks and 52 SDD B2B banks in carrying out SDD readiness testing for direct participation in Step2 prior to the start of the new schemes.
Banks participating in the launch have set up a dedicated Step2 SDD Implementation Forum to ensure a constant exchange of information prior to and during the SDD launch and ramp-up phase.
From November on, over 2000 direct and indirect participant banks will be able to exchange SDD Core and B2B collections via the pan European ACH (Pe-ach), says John Broxis, director, Step2 Services at EBA Clearing.
"We are expecting a progressive ramp-up of our SDD Core and B2B offerings, which will certainly gain in speed after a Sepa migration end date has been set," he adds. "Our Step2 system is ready to absorb rapidly rising volumes in a smooth fashion and to satisfy the growing needs of our participants around the new Sepa direct debit instruments."