Some corporates find that there is a difference before and after the implementation of SEPA. A provider of collaborative services, Arkadin is one of these corporations, and it's taking advantage of SEPA to jump into the future.

Before, Arkadin had a fragmented payment system relying on local collection teams, but as of the 1st of February 2014, it is now equipped with an integrated European payment system that uses one single format. Since then, it also uses shared services for its collections. Although this is major, it is only a first step, as Arkadin plans to continue making progress in how it manages its cash.

Towards a smooth second migration

A little while back in the history of the company, the implementation of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme (SDD) rapidly resulted in a new collection strategy and organisation. Today, since 5 countries are already using the SDD, the company wants the scheme to quickly be operational in two more. With over a thousand customers paying via direct debit, there is high pressure to manage this second wave of migration as smoothly and successfully as the first one.

Multiple benefits, among which XML is one

Arkadin, chose EasyCollect to migrate to 5 countries in a short time scale (4-5 months before the 1st of February), which played a key part in the success of its SDD migration. In addition to the constraint of a short deadline, the company's accounting system was not geared to use XML files, so EasyCollect was the best option. It just so happened that on top of having the capacity to deal with the XML format, the solution could also handle mandate management.

The use of the XML file format gave Arkadin a lot of flexibility in terms of collection team organisation, and having a back-up possibility so each member of the team could handle the same file type without having any local constraint or specificity.

A structured approach is a winning approach

The chosen approach has meant that Arkadin can allocate the right resources and put them in the right place at the right time. Managed to a precise schedule, the implementation project has involved weekly follow-up calls and the participation of the company's accounting database expert. On the training front, BNP Paribas has been specifically in charge of organising the sessions for the cash collection team; in addition to supporting Arkadin throughout the whole implementation process.

Broadening the scope of SDD

Now that SEPA has been implemented, the company is looking at developing direct debit by adding new SEPA countries and more clients to the scope of its SDD scheme. Among the challenges to come in the near future, Arkadin aims to take full advantage of EasyCollect's added-value functionalities like e-pre-notification sending and e-Mandates.