What is SEPA and how does it work?

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Introduction to unified payments across Europe

Almost 20 years have passed since the wish to become members of the European Union was at the very top of national priorities for many formerly independent European countries, which had until then had their own national currency.

The formation of the European Union was a natural progression from what had emerged during the 1970s as the European Economic Community (EEC), taking European countries from completely independent status, bound only by a common economic market, to a fully-fledged union of nations which would eventually have a centralized parliament and one issuer of a common currency - the European Central Bank.

Since the Euro, now recognized globally as one of the major sovereign currencies, was introduced in January 1999, it has become a de facto currency for global business and a common unit for many European citizens, and worrying about transferring from one unit to another with the associated costs just for going shopping a few kilometres away just because it happens to be across a national border, is a thing of the past.