With the introduction of the SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) on 28 January 2008, the first pan-European retail payment instrument has become available. Almost all banks active in the payment business in Europe (i.e. about 4,500 banks) adhere to the SCT scheme, i.e. they are able to offer and process the SCT.
Market strains have receded somewhat since May 2010, largely due to the EUR750 billion package assembled by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, and the results of the European banking sector stress tests, which indicated that the banking sector was in better shape than feared. 3.