SCT Inst Migration Round Table (SMART2)
Mission
The SCT Inst Migration Action Round Table targets issues that may impact a smooth end-to-end execution of instant payments in SEPA and may benefit from joint analysis and exchange.
The Round Table will provide a space for consultations on issues of operational nature that need to be collectively addressed. If the members of this Round Table identify major issues that cannot be solved in this inter-PSP forum, they will channel them to the appropriate bodies, e.g. the European Payments Council.
The Round Table will not consult on or discuss matters that may potentially be or become part of the competitive domain.
The Round Table is infrastructure-agnostic and not a decision-making body. SMART2 is geared at clarifying issues related to the migration to instant payments and defining industry best practices, where needed. The Round Table may choose to publish common positions on such issues to the wider market, based on a consensus among the participants. Such communication will list the names of the PSPs endorsing the position.
SMART2 recommendation notes
SMART2 has published the following recommendation notes put together and endorsed by AS-PSPs operating across SEPA. The notes are aimed to help remedy practical issues hampering the smooth handling of euro instant payments:
- Optional pan-European fraud information field: why this field is helpful and how it should be used
- Best practices to support PSPs in detecting/combatting fraud and scam
- Communication on PSP unavailability in the SCT Inst inter-PSP space
- How beneficiary PSPs should react to transaction hits in SCT Inst
Other SMART2 publications
SMART2 has released a paper on the fraud potential of closed-loop gift cards. The paper seeks to raise awareness of the different abuse scenarios and help reduce fraud in the future.
Background of SMART2
After the launch of the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) Scheme by the European Payments Council (EPC) on 20 November 2017, real-time payments are expected to significantly increase over the next few years. While instant retail payments have the potential to become the new normal in the euro area, the extent and speed of their introduction will vary between countries.
The migration to end-to-end real-time payment processing will affect payment operations, customer-facing systems and processes, and interactions in the inter-PSP space. To support PSPs and their customers throughout Europe with the migration and to foster harmonised approaches to handling instant payments, a platform for exchange is needed.
Because similar previous initiatives have proved valuable, a number of European payment banks and SMART* participants decided to relaunch SMART as an SCT Inst Migration Action Round Table 2 (SMART2). Like its predecessor, SMART2 will benefit from the pan-European facilitation and administrative support of the Euro Banking Association (EBA), as agreed by the EBA Board at its meeting on 21 February 2018.
*From March 2013 until the end of 2016, the EBA facilitated the SEPA Migration Action Roundtable (SMART), a forum for banks and by banks geared at dealing with SEPA migration and post-migration issues.