The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) was launched in 2002, aiming to address the fragmentation in non-cash payments that prevailed at the time. Payments between euro area countries were slower, more cumbersome and more expensive than domestic payments. And yet, many market participants questioned the merits of the project: will SEPA make payment services more efficient? Will it make the economy more competitive? And will it deliver real benefits to customers? Fast-forward to today and it is clear that the initial scepticism was unfounded. We no longer differentiate between national and cross-border payments in euro ... (full story)