The European Payments Council (EPC) has recently released critical information regarding the mandatory participation in the EPC Verification of Payee (VOP) scheme, funding the Directory Service (EDS), VOP scheme fees, and actions needed from EPC payment scheme participants in this regard.
Here’s what the PSPs participating in EPC payment schemes need to know about the upcoming changes and milestones.
Mandatory participation
The EPC has mandated that all current and future SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) scheme participants must join the EPC Verification of Payee (VOP) scheme and register with the EPC Directory Service (EDS) for an initial three-year period from October 2025.
This ensures cross-border interoperability across SEPA.
Opting out of mandatory participation – Who? How? When?
PSPs who fall into one of the following groups have an option to opt-out from Mandatory participation even if they are participants in SEPA payment schemes:
- PSPs that operate only in non-eurozone SEPA locations (Bulgaria, Czech, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, etc.)
- PSPs operating in locations where SEPAR (IPR regulation) doesn’t apply: Countries that are not in the EU but part of EEA (Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein), SEPA countries outside the EU (Switzerland, UK, Monaco, Vatican City, etc.)
- PSPs that are planning to terminate their participation in EPC payment schemes before the end of 2025
- PSPs that only offer accounts other than payment accounts to their customers
The EPC SCT and SCT Inst scheme participants wishing to opt-out must declare by e-mail their opt-out to the VOP scheme adherence on or before 31 January 2025 to vop@epc-cep.eu and explain the justification(s) for using this opt-out.
New EPC fee structure
The introduction of the EPC VOP scheme brings new financial obligations. PSPs will face three fee categories in 2025:
- Standard EPC payment scheme participation fees
- One-time EDS set-up fee
- Annual VOP scheme participation fee
EPC payment scheme participants can expect the invoice for 2025 with the above structure in February 2025.
A typical VOP participant fee (excluding group discounts):
- EDS set-up fee (one-time): € 1.737
- Annual VOP scheme participation fee 2025: € 576
- Total: € 2.313
The complete fee structure is given in the psmb bulletin
What action is needed from PSPs from a billing perspective?
If a PSP is not a eurozone PSP and wishes to delay the invoicing of the EDS setup fee and EPC VOP scheme participation fee, they must submit the opt-out notification form before 31-Jan-2025 using this link
If a PSP is a eurozone PSP or a non-eurozone PSP that is planning to offer VOP services to its customers before 31-Dec-2025 and if they are part of a group of entities, they must clearly understand the revised grouping rule that is applied for the EDS and VOP scheme participation fees.
Ensuring smooth implementation
You can monitor communications at PSMB@epc-cep.eu for future updates.
If you don’t receive the PSMB bulletins, you can sign-up for future bulletins here by sending the following contact details to PSMB@epc-cep.eu : Name and First Name, Name of Institution, Department Name, Corporate Title and Email Address.
Banfico’s subject matter expertise, technical capabilities, and successful track record make us the ideal partner as you navigate this journey. Get in touch with us for a simplified approach to VOP implementation and expert guidance.
