**Urgent Update – Brexit Readiness Notification 2020**
This communication is relevant for all SEPA Direct Debit Originators
On January 31st, the United Kingdom will enter a Brexit transition period scheduled to run until December 31st 2020. During this transition period, the UK will continue to be considered as an EEA country. Depending on the design of the trade deal on December 31st 2020 this may change and the UK may be considered a non-EEA country.
To ensure payment continuity in the event of the UK becoming a non-EEA country, we continue to strongly encourage SEPA direct debit originators to prepare for sending additional payer information in advance of December 31st 2020. In the event that the UK becomes a non-EEA country after the December 31st 2020 deadline, payments will be rejected effective from January 1st 2021, if the debtor address is not provided.
If you are an Originator of SEPA Direct Debits, in addition to the information that you already provide it will be mandatory for you to provide the debtor address for any payment where the debtor bank is located in the UK.
We would urge all SEPA Direct Debit Originators to begin preparations for the provision of the additional payer address information in collections from UK accounts in advance of December 31st 2020. We strongly recommend that you source this extra information as soon as possible, and start including it in payments going forward.
Should you have any queries or require further information please contact the Business On Line Helpdesk Team by emailing BOLPaymentsPlus@boi.com or call 1890 818 265.
