OREANDA-NEWS.  July 22, 2014. On 1 January 2015, upon completion of Latvia’s integration into the Single European Payment Area, the requirements of the European Parliament Regulation* will enter into force, phasing out the current direct debit based solutions in Latvia.

Aware of the need of businesses and individuals for standardized invoice payment, Swedbank takes over the successful North European best practice and will roll out a new service from December this year: e-invoices with delivery to the customer to the Internet Banking site (in the “E-Invoices” section).

In the “E-Invoices” section on the Internet Banking site, it will be possible both to pay invoices separately (by clicking on “Pay”) and to enable automatic e-invoice standing order.
 
How to start using the new service?
The customers - invoice payers currently using the direct debit service – don’t need to do anything with their existing Direct Debit contracts.
At present, Swedbank is the process of identifying all companies that use the existing direct debit service and will be ready to implement the new e-invoice service for their customers already by the end of the year.
 
What will happen with the existing Direct Debit agreements?
- If the company implements e-invoices by the end of the year, then the current Direct Debit agreements of that company will continue in force as automatic e-invoice standing orders. Customers will also be given a chance to opt out of the automatic switching to the new solution by selecting their preference in the respective Direct Debit agreement on the Internet Banking site.

- If the company does not implement e-invoices by the end of the year, then starting from 1 January 2015 their invoices will no longer by paid automatically.

In early December, Swedbank will personally inform all customers using the Direct Debit service about the companies that will switch to the new solution already this year. The companies that won’t implement the new solution until 1 January 2015 will no longer receive Direct Debit payments, therefore the Swedbank customers who used this service will receive a notification not to forget to pay the invoices of the respective companies using other available methods of payment (e.g. by setting up a defined payment on the Internet Banking site).
 
The new service will be also open for application after 1 January 2015
Also the customers of companies that will implement the new service – e-invoice delivery to Swedbank Internet Banking - after 1 January 2015 will be able to re-enable the automatic payment of e-invoices with the standing order.

The automated e-invoice standing order service will be free of charge for the payers while the fee for the money transfers will be according to the current Price List.
 
E-invoices for payers – much more user-friendly:
– all e-invoices in a single place, with the possibility to check and control payments,
– payments are made right away on the Internet Banking site.
 
Advantages of e-invoices for the company – payment receivers:
1. Versatility
- A solution for both delivery and payment of invoices in a secure environment
- No expenditure of resources on sending out invoices
2. An opportunity to increase the number of regular payers
- A larger payer base – all customers who’ll receive e-invoices via Internet Banking
- E-invoices are received in secure environment which is already used for making payments.
- If all invoices are in one place, they are easier to pay.
3. An easy to use and navigate reporting system
- automated, structured various reports on received payments on daily basis
- the information is easy to filter, group and process in the company’s systems
To ensure that the new solution is implemented this year, we encourage businesses to make timely preparations!
 
* European Parliament and Council Regulation No. 260/2012