The first acceptance tests by Clearing Houses for the new SEPA Card Clearing (SCC) are scheduled for third quarter 2014. By this time, operators of card and network systems and banks must have converted their test systems to the XML format. By the time the SEPA Card Clearing roll-out starts (from spring 2015), all tests have to be successfully completed. The current settlement process for card payments in DTA format will be stopped after a short transitional period by the 1. February 2016.
Although the SEPA migration of credit transfers and direct debits has only recently been completed, it is important not to lose any time to plan the next migration step. With Omikron’s products, all market participants are well prepared to tackle the migration. Whether pain-messages for the communication between corporates and banks or pacs-messages for the exchange between banks and Clearing Houses: Omikron provides full support for SEPA Card Clearing formats. Both MultiCash Transfer for sending and the Omikron Communication Platform for receiving financial messages for card clearing transactions already support the new XML formats.
The handling for some products by SEPA Card Clearing, for example the cash card, has not yet been finalized. This means that it will be necessary to support specifications and formats which have so far not yet been published. Due to the close contacts to banks and bank associations, Omikron’s format experts expect to realise the forthcoming changes at short notice. With an early implementation of new format specifications – long before the deadlines defined by the regulation points – Omikron’s partners and clients can take a relaxed approach to future adaptations and innovations in the SEPA context.