The introduction of euro in 2002 led to the creation of a single “domestic” market for cash retail payments in euro. In order to create a single market for cashless payments as well, the European banking community, ahead by European Council Payments, has launched the Single European Payments Area project (SEPA) in 2002. The project designed new payment schemes for credit transfer and direct debit, as well as a card payments framework. SEPA credit transfer scheme was officially launched on 28 January 2008. The whole project is expected to be implemented by the end of 2010. In this paper we refer to the necessity of introduction of this ambitious project, to the essential features of its components and to its overall economic impact. We also discus the challenges of Romanian payment system generated by the implementation of SEPA.

payment system, Single European Payments Area, Romanian payment system