SEPA Direct Debit
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Last editedApr 20231 min read
SEPA is Direct Debit scheme that operates across the Eurozone.
| Payment type | Direct Debit |
| Description | SEPA Direct Debit is the Europe-wide Direct Debit system that allows merchants to collect Euro-denominated payments from accounts in the 19 SEPA countries and associated territories. Businesses can access the SEPA scheme directly through their bank or via a third party provider like GoCardless. For more information, see our SEPA Direct Debit user guide |
| Currency | € (Euro) |
| Key markets | Belgium, Austria, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Finland, Greece, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia |
| Key fact | More than 50% of non-cash transactions in Germany are processed via SEPA Direct Debit. |
| Payment use case | Recurring transactions, subscriptions, invoicing and instalments (for fixed or variable amounts). For example, online subscriptions, energy and telecom bills, gym memberships, charity donations. |
| Benefits |
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| Considerations | Not real-time - 2 to 5 day turnaround on payments, depending on whether you use SEPA core or SEPA B2B scheme, and whether it is the first payment for a particular customer or a subsequent payment. |
| Example merchants | Slack, Netflix, Evernote |
| Additional facts + figures |
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Interested in SEPA payments? Check out our full guide to SEPA Direct Debit.
How to collect SEPA Direct Debit payments with GoCardless
1.
Create your free GoCardless account, access your user-friendly payments dashboard & connect your accounting software (if you use one).
2.
Easily set up & schedule SEPA Direct Debit payments via payment pages on your website checkout or secure payment links.
3.
From now on you'll get paid on time, every time, as GoCardless automatically collects payment on the scheduled date. Simple.
