Häufig gestellte Fragen
What does SEPA mean and which countries does it apply to?
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is the unified European payments area in which euro credit transfers and direct debits are processed across borders according to the same rules and formats as domestic payments. The SEPA area comprises around 40 countries and territories, including all 27 EU member states as well as other European countries such as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. SEPA applies exclusively to euro payments within this area and does not replace arbitrary international foreign-currency transfers outside Europe. For companies, SEPA is the authoritative standard for electronic bulk payments in the euro area.
Which SEPA schemes exist in business transactions?
SEPA has three central payment instruments: the SEPA credit transfer for supplier payments and salaries, the SEPA direct debit for mandate-based collections and the SEPA instant credit transfer (instant payment) with funds credited within seconds. For direct debits, a distinction is made between the core variant and the business-to-business (B2B) direct debit, which provides for shorter lead times and no right of objection for the payer. Technically, all schemes are transmitted in standardised ISO 20022 XML files, such as pain.001 for credit transfers and pain.008 for direct debits. In the ERP system, these files are generated automatically from the open items in accounts receivable and accounts payable.
Are SEPA instant credit transfers now standard?
Under the EU regulation on instant payments, banks in the euro area have had to be able to receive SEPA instant credit transfers since 9 January 2025 and to send them since 9 October 2025, without charging higher fees than for normal SEPA credit transfers. The amount is credited within a few seconds, around the clock, including weekends and public holidays. In addition, the obligation to verify the payee (Verification of Payee) has applied since 9 October 2025, under which the recipient's name and IBAN are checked against each other before execution. On the ERP side, support for instant credit transfers is included in modern releases, but the specific scope of functions depends on the respective system and the bank connection.
What is a SEPA direct debit mandate and how long is it valid?
A SEPA direct debit mandate is the payer's consent authorising the payee to collect payments by direct debit and the payer's bank to honour them. Each mandate receives a unique mandate reference and refers to the creditor identifier of the party submitting the collection. A mandate has no fixed term but lapses automatically if no direct debit has been collected for more than 36 months, with each new collection restarting this period. In the ERP system, mandates including status, sequence and deadlines are typically managed in accounts receivable and checked for validity in every payment run.
Which deadlines and return rights apply to SEPA direct debits?
With the SEPA core direct debit, the payer can object to an authorised debit within eight weeks of the booking date without giving reasons, whereupon the bank refunds the amount. The business-to-business (B2B) direct debit, by contrast, provides no such right of objection and can only be returned if the mandate is missing or invalid. Submission is subject to lead times, which under the rulebooks are usually a few days before the due date and can differ for first and subsequent direct debits. Since these deadlines and sequences are among the most common sources of error, ERP systems generally monitor them automatically in the payment run.
How is SEPA mapped in an ERP system?
In the ERP, SEPA is less a module of its own than an end-to-end requirement for master data, accounting and bank interfaces. Bank details, mandates and payment terms reside in accounts receivable and accounts payable, and from the open items the system generates payment runs and writes the SEPA XML file. Transmission to the bank frequently takes place via the EBICS standard channel, while the transmission of the invoice itself runs via e-invoicing or formats such as ZUGFeRD and is not part of SEPA. A prerequisite for error-free payment files is consistent master data maintenance, as incorrect or missing IBANs can block entire payment runs.