An initiative by European banks to harmonise transactions within the EU – will officially launch next Monday. The Single European Payments Area (SEPA) aims to make all electronic payments within the euro zone (which the UK is not part of) as simple as domestic transactions, including eliminating fees associated with these transactions. Unfortunately, the initiative is still only in its early stages and SEPA itself is a voluntary concept with no European legislation specifying that countries must follow its guidelines. However, In the future, Irish businesses trading within the EU will be able to accept debit cards from other countries, not just credit cards.