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SEPA Direct Debit at a glance.
SEPA Direct Debit collects euro payments straight from the customer’s bank account. One signed mandate authorises one-off or recurring collections: no card to expire, and no need for the customer to return to checkout. The profile below shows where the method fits.
- Type
- Bank-account pull payment / direct debit: SEPA Direct Debit Core and SEPA Direct Debit B2B
- Scheme owner
- European Payments Council (EPC)
- Primary markets
- SEPA geographical scope: currently 41 European countries and territories
- Currencies
- EUR
- Typical ticket size
- Low to high value; practical limits and risk controls are set by the payment provider, bank and merchant profile
- Chargebacks
- No card-style chargeback process; SDD Core gives an unconditional eight-week refund right for authorised collections and up to 13 months for unauthorised collections
- Recurring support
- Yes: a single mandate can support recurring collections until cancelled or otherwise invalidated
- Best for
- Subscriptions, memberships, SaaS, utilities, insurance, telecoms, recurring invoices, instalments, account top-ups, donations and established customer relationships
How SEPA Direct Debit works.
SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) is a bank-to-bank payment method: once the customer has granted a valid mandate, the merchant can collect euro-denominated payments directly from the customer’s bank account. Unlike a bank transfer, the customer does not have to initiate every payment. With the mandate in place, the merchant can initiate future collections on the agreed billing schedule.
For merchants with repeat customers, this changes the payment experience completely. No card number expires, the customer does not return to checkout every month, and no card issuer has to authorise each recurring payment. The merchant decides when a collection is submitted, while the customer keeps the protections built into the SEPA scheme.
The standard consumer and general-purpose scheme: the payer signs a mandate authorising the merchant to debit the account.
Strong payer protection: an authorised debit can be refunded without justification for up to eight weeks after the debit date; an unauthorised debit can generally be challenged for up to 13 months.
The mandate records the creditor identity, mandate reference, payer details and the customer’s authorisation for one-off or recurring collections.
One mandate keeps supporting recurring collections until it is cancelled or otherwise invalidated.
Once the mandate is in place, the merchant initiates each collection on the agreed billing schedule; the customer does not have to act again.
No card to expire and no per-payment issuer authorisation, while the customer keeps the refund rights built into the SEPA scheme.
How customers pay.
Six steps from mandate to settled collection, with every status update on the way.
- 01
Select SEPA Direct Debit
The customer selects SEPA Direct Debit at checkout, or chooses it as the payment method for an invoice, subscription or account.
- 02
Customer gives bank details
The customer provides the required bank-account and identity details: normally the account holder name and IBAN, plus any information the mandate requires.
- 03
Customer accepts the mandate
The customer reviews and accepts the mandate, which records the creditor identity, mandate reference, payer details and the authorisation for one-off or recurring collections.
- 04
Collection submitted
The merchant or payment provider stores the mandate evidence and submits the collection into the SEPA Direct Debit scheme for the agreed due date.
- 05
Account debited
The payer’s bank debits the customer’s account and the funds move through the banking system to the merchant’s payment provider or settlement account.
- 06
Merchant gets status updates
The merchant receives status updates for successful collections and for any exceptions such as rejects, returns, refunds or reversals.
Market coverage.
SEPA Direct Debit is available across the SEPA geographical scope, which currently covers 41 European countries and territories: one euro collection rail for the whole area, under one scheme rulebook.
Where it fits best.
Strong fit
- Subscriptions and memberships with predictable recurring billing
- SaaS, hosting, telecoms, utilities and other monthly service contracts
- Insurance premiums and instalment-based payments
- B2B invoicing where repeat customers can be moved away from manual bank transfers
- Donations and memberships where payment continuity matters
- European merchants that want to reduce dependence on expiring cards
- Higher-value recurring payments where card acceptance costs become material