SEPA (Single Euro Payment Area) is a cashless payment method in the euro that was firstly introduced in 2008 by the European banking and payments industry. It harmonizes all cross-border online payments in the euro as it provides a unified system and principle of equal charges for all its transactions.
SEPA Direct Debit is a delayed notification payment method, which takes a minimum of two business days to be completed, sometimes it can take up to 14 business days to process, also the average length of the transaction is five business days.
With SEPA Direct Debit the merchant has easy access to the markets across 36 countries (27 countries from the EU, also Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland, the UK, and four microstates: Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Andorra). It is also possible to conduct recurring payments, full and partial refunds with this method. Kindly note, that the Chargebacks also can be opened.
How does it work?
- Customers need to choose SEPA Direct Debit at the checkout.
- They are asked to provide the account holder name, IBAN, and to accept the mandate.
- After the acceptance, the merchant is authorized to proceed with the money withdrawal.
- The payment is completed.
Fo this payment method there exist two types of the mandate:
- One-off - which is used for single transactions.
- Recurring - which can be reused for multiple payments.
Also, kindly note that it is mandatory for the merchant to notify the customer before the debit in an agreed timeframe. This allows the buyer to recognize the transaction and to be sure that there are enough funds on their account to proceed with the purchase.