While over 80 percent have set up specific initiatives to address the upcoming directive within their organizations, there is still some way for the industry to go in order to meet the scheduled implementation of the PSD in November 2009.

The survey, conducted by Capgemini, reveals the impact and challenges European banks expect to encounter with the approaching implementation, in November 2009, of the new Directive on payment services. One third of respondents manage their payments business centrally - these banks will have the biggest need for consistency within transposition.

Surveyed at this year's SIBOS, 68 banks from 14 different countries were asked to comment on a range of issues around the PSD and SEPA. The findings of the survey reveal:

• Rise in costs and loss of revenue likely: Collectively respondents predicted an estimated impact of over €1 billion as a whole on their business from the PSD with concern over lost profit from value dating cited as the main concern.
• Customer-facing functions are expected to be impacted the most: 39 percent of respondents said making their contractual terms and conditions PSD compliant will be their biggest task, followed by concerns over organizational and IT infrastructure to meet the requirements of the Directive.
• Concerns about coordinated PSD implementation across Europe: More than half of the banks surveyed cited harmonized implementation of the PSD across the EU as the biggest challenge facing PSD compliance. At the same time, most said they had a limited view of how PSD initiatives are being implemented across other European countries.
• New payment services and products will come to market: Rather than discontinuing services that will no longer be sustainable due to the impact of PSD (such as prohibiting value dating for instance) , most banks plan to offer new payment services and products, i.e. direct debit mandate management for corporates to help recover any resulting revenue loss along with the general costs of SEPA implementation.
• Pessimism around meeting implementation deadline: Almost half of the banks surveyed believe that the scheduled PSD implementation target of November 2009 will be pushed back. 68 percent also said they believe a "hard" SEPA end date is required in order to make SEPA a success.

"Our survey at SIBOS shows the majority of banks are well underway with projects to address the new PSD, however there is still much work to be done," said Bertrand Lavayssière, Managing Director, Capgemini Global Financial Services. "The evolution of SEPA necessitates significant changes in payment services which may impact on revenue and customer services. Consequently, banks are taking a thorough and cautious approach, especially as they expect implementation will be delayed."