How can I accept SEPA Direct Debit and connect to others European buyers

Apr 22, 2023

This article has been updated since it first appeared at all, and it has been updated with the most current information on SEPA Direct Debit transfers as on April 20, 2023.

If you're selling software worldwide, you're aware of how difficult managing payments from one country to another could be. It's everything from ensuring that you're using the correct currency in every region, to ensuring that you're able to serve customers that prefer to pay by credit card. commerce is not without its challenges.

The majority of consumers in Europe as well as in the European Union and surrounding countries opt to make payments using SEPA Direct Debit. It isn't just advantageous for the convenience of payment in multiple currencies however it reduces the risk of failing payments.

In this post, we'll go over the basic concepts behind SEPA Direct Debit and then explain the reason the importance of being in a position to take the card when you pay for your transactions when doing business within Europe. Table of Contents

  1.       What exactly does it mean? SEPA Direct Debit?
  2.       What is SEPA Direct Debit purpose?
  3.       SEPA Advantages & Disadvantages
  4.       "' SEPA Experience

Are you already a seller and wish to set up SEPA Direct Debit to your company? Contact us for support using the platform, or on our help pages.

What exactly is SEPA Direct Debit?

SEPA Direct Debit is an international wire transfer service that permits businesses to get payments via accounts in countries and states which are members of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA).

SEPA is comparable to the ACH Debit (US) and EFT (Canada) but with an exception. Two notable differences:

Currency The vast majority of SEPA Direct Debit transaction are performed in Euros
Chargebacks Customers have a period of 13 months to claim a total refund for non-authorized SEPA transactions.
Bank details To process SEPA payments, you need IBAN numbers to pay your customers.
Implementation The time of payment will be determined by the way of which documents are saved and also the method of submitting

What's the main reason why it's vital to be a part of SEPA?

In the present, over 529 million people utilize SEPA to pay more than 146 billion electronically-mediated payments each year in the 36 member countries. The SEPA system is responsible for 30% of the online transactions in Europe and that's why SEPA is an essential payment method which you could use when selling your products to consumers on the European market.

European-Economic Area (EEA) SEPA Countries

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden

 The SEPA of Non-EEA Territories as well as Countries Territories

  • Andorra
  • Monaco
  • San Marino
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
  • Vatican City State
  • Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
  • Guernsey
  • Jersey
  • Isle of Man

Additionally, each European with an account with the bank can make payments using SEPA. If you allow this one payment option in the check-out process, it will enable customers to connect with the more than 500 million possible customers around the world in 36 countries.

What exactly is SEPA Direct Debit Work?

SEPA transfer functions similar to transfers made in the United States, with a few minor differences which take place behind the scenes. SEPA transfer functions as per the viewpoint of the buyer

  1. Mandate
  2. Pre-notification
  3. Request for payment
  4. Post-submission

1. Mandate

For the payment to be collected through SEPA Direct Debit your customer must fill out the Mandate which allows the company to accept the payments. Mandates are agreements that have been signed by a buyer that permits the seller to collect the amount they wish to receive through the account of the bank. Euro currency.

Mandates should include certain mandatory specifics.

Essential Items of the Mandate

  • The amount to be paid
  • SEPA Mandate ID
  • SEPA Day of Mandate
  • The business's name can be used in order to identify the trader
  • Merchant's creditor identification
  • Address of the Merchant's complete address
  • Information on Creditors
  • The method of payment
  • International Bank Account Number (IBAN)
  • Bank Identifier Code (BIC)
  • Date of Signature
  • Signature

Here's an example taken from the SEPA Mandate:

Example of  SEPA mandate

2. Pre-Notification

According to SEPA regulations, you are required to notify your clients in advance to inform customers of when that they will be able to expect a payment or a regular subscription to take place in their accounts. This notification can be made via text messages, emails or telephone calls, and also as invoices or perhaps in an official note.

The pre-notifications in compliance are required to comprise:

  1. The proper date for notice (typically fourteen calendar days)
  2. Deadline, reference to mandatory Reference, Creditor's ID
  3. Contact details for the seller
SEPA notification examples for one time and recurring payments

3. Request for Payment

After the pre-notification is delivered, at which point you're able to start the process by sending all the required information to the bank responsible for processing the transactions on behalf of your business. The bank handles this on behalf of the merchant. The bank will forward the request to the system for clearing and settlement. Afterwards, it sends the request to the client's bank for settlement.

4. Step. Post-Submission

After you've completed the purchase, it'll need several days to evaluate whether the SEPA transaction was effective or not. It is recommended to wait minimum of 48 hours to complete the purchase.

SEPA Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits

SEPA Direct Debit has 3 important advantages for people who manage recurring payments

  • Control This helps retailers ensure that their clients are able to pay for their purchases monthly in equal installments.
  • Retention rates Eliminates failed payments because of card expiration or cancelation. In addition, it increases customer loyalty by providing a convenient system of setting-and-forget payments.
  • reduces time spent by admin. It reduces administration time required to collect payment.

SEPA Direct Debit is also ideal for invoices to B2B:

  • Enhances cash flow Payouts are processed in the correct time and speed method.
  • Amounts of variable amounts: With a single, initial contract, sellers are able to take the sum they wish to claim instead of offering banks new directions every time a change is needed.
  • Reduces admin time: Payments can be automatized on a regular basis.

Other uses SEPA could be beneficial for are:

  • Markets with lower card use In Germany along with the Netherlands Card usage in these countries is less than 50 percent. SEPA Direct Debit (Direct Debit) is the most popular way to pay in these countries.

Negatives

SEPA isn't the ideal solution for:

  • transactions that require immediate clearance direct debits from SEPA are not immediately cleared, even with the faster B2B scheme.
  • transactions that could to trigger costs. SEPA Core Direct Returns to Deposits with no-questions policies makes the chargeback process (equivalent to a refund in the ACH scheme) simple in the first eight weeks from the date of the incident.

"'s SEPA Experience

The system will show the purchase at the time of checkout. The system handles every step for processing your buyer's purchase, which means there's no need to take action other than enabling SEPA payment options in your account's settings.

It's what it appears to be at the eyes of your customer:

  1. Customers can select to make use of SEPA Direct Debit. Bank name must be entered as well as the bank's IBAN or number is entered in order to open their bank account.
  2. The buyer accepts these SEPA Direct Debit Mandate terms and also confirms the details of their bank account in order to submit the transaction.
  3. Following the successful completion of an order, after the order is submitted, after which the customer will be directed to a confirmation page to verify that the transaction took place without issue.
  4. The process of paying for your credit card will typically last between 2 and 3 days for completion.

This article was originally posted here. here

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