Last week, PwC released an update to the “SEPA Readiness Thermometer” that itoriginally developed in January2013. The first report suggested that 55 percent of companieswere at risk of missing the February 1, 2014, deadline for clearingeuro-denominated credit transfers and direct debits through SingleEuro Payments Area (SEPA)-compliant systems. This time around, PwCsurveyed 150 organizations about the state of their readiness forSEPA and found that although some companies are making progress,many are still lagging.

The survey found that 26 percent ofrespondents do not have in place a project plan for SEPA readiness;that number has not decreased since January. “This number issignificant,” states the PwC report, “given the incomplete understanding of what SEPAreadiness entails. We observe a widespread inconsistency in scopedefinition—in particular, for companies that have not planned theirreadiness activities.”

Among all respondents, only 11 percent havefully operational SEPA-compliant systems at this point, whileanother 20 percent are currently testing their systems. Nearly twoin five are still in the implementation phase with their SEPAcompliance projects. And almost a third of respondents indicatedthat their company is way behind—either currently designingSEPA-compliant systems or just now assessing their needs. (SeeFigure 1.)