Creation of the SEPA and its impacts on companies in Finland
Rinne, Jussi (2010)
Rinne, Jussi
HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoulu
2010
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201005179575
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201005179575
Tiivistelmä
The long integration process of European monetary policy has taken long step during the last decade. First the euro was introduced in 1999 and now the European payment system is being standardized. SEPA means Single Euro Payments Area. Its purpose is to standardize and to create more efficient payment systems in the euro area. SEPA consist of all EU euro zone countries, EU non-euro zone countries and EEA zone countries. The first steps of implementation of SEPA were conducted in beginning of 2007, when the IBAN account number was taken into use in the euro area.
The objective of this thesis was to study the shift from national payment transactions to a European payment practice SEPA. Hence cash management is an important part of business, and especially it is crucial to ensure the sufficient volume of money available for the business. Managing short-term financing, controlling the cash flows and choosing and maintaining good bank relations are all important aspects of cash management. Therefore, aim was to gain thorough understanding of how these changes in payment methods affect medium and large sized companies’ operating in Finland and especially to their cash and liquidity management.
The study of this thesis was conducted through a qualitative research. Theory was based on literature published on the subject. Background information of SEPA was collected mainly from various sources of the Internet and colleagues from Sampo Bank. This is because there was a lack of relevant literature at the time this thesis was done. Moreover, researcher’s own findings and working experience in banking industry was used to gather source material.
The findings indicated that the knowledge of SEPA among medium and large companies was relatively good, and mainly proper preparatory actions have been taken. As there is still transition time left, companies were not in haste to make changes to their payment systems. In this thesis, it appears that moving towards SEPA is a very challenging project but also beneficial to all stakeholders.
The objective of this thesis was to study the shift from national payment transactions to a European payment practice SEPA. Hence cash management is an important part of business, and especially it is crucial to ensure the sufficient volume of money available for the business. Managing short-term financing, controlling the cash flows and choosing and maintaining good bank relations are all important aspects of cash management. Therefore, aim was to gain thorough understanding of how these changes in payment methods affect medium and large sized companies’ operating in Finland and especially to their cash and liquidity management.
The study of this thesis was conducted through a qualitative research. Theory was based on literature published on the subject. Background information of SEPA was collected mainly from various sources of the Internet and colleagues from Sampo Bank. This is because there was a lack of relevant literature at the time this thesis was done. Moreover, researcher’s own findings and working experience in banking industry was used to gather source material.
The findings indicated that the knowledge of SEPA among medium and large companies was relatively good, and mainly proper preparatory actions have been taken. As there is still transition time left, companies were not in haste to make changes to their payment systems. In this thesis, it appears that moving towards SEPA is a very challenging project but also beneficial to all stakeholders.