According to new research by Danske Bank three out of four Irish businesses feel unprepared for SEPA and 68% feel totally unprepared.
The research also showed that a lot of businesses have little understanding of SEPA. Just 1 in 4 (24%) of those who have heard of SEPA claim to have a strong or very strong understanding of SEPA.
“Given the real changes that SEPA will bring in terms of how business finances operate, the lack of understanding we see from the Danske Bank research is very concerning” said Barry Manning, Head of Cash Management Sales at Danske Bank. “The migration to SEPA can be compared to the Euro changeover and preparation represents a big challenge for all businesses and corporate. The February 2014 deadline is looming large so migration planning needs to start now,” he added.
More worrying might be the discovery that 67% of businesses are unsure whether the impact of SEPA will be positive or negative and 7 in 10 don’t know what the potential benefits may be. Most businesses feel that financial institutions and Government need to educate customers on SEPA, says the bank. Danske Bank is already working with some of its existing customers to guide them through their SEPA migration. Leveraging off the Bank’s SEPA experiences in Finland (where SEPA was implemented in 2011), Danske Bank provides a range of SEPA-related services to its business and corporate clients.
Despite the disappointing numbers, 65% of Irish businesses who describe themselves as unprepared are not worried about their lack of preparedness to migrate in February 2014.
