What is SEPA?
SEPA – Single Euro Payments Area, a program started by European Commission, The European Central Banks and European Banks helped in using Euro as single currency for any transactions/trade within the SEPA union.
What is SEPA union?
SEPA union is a list of member nations who are participating in SEPA program. Majorly comprises of 28 countries part of EU (European Union), 3 countries part of EEA (European Economic Area) who are not part of EU and 5 non EU or EEA countries. Total of about 36 nations are part of SEPA as of today.
NOTE: EEA includes EU countries + 3 other countries
Who are part of EU?
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Republic of Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- UK
Who are part of EEA?
- All EU countries above
- Iceland
- Liechtenstein
- Norway
Who are other 5 nations which are neither in EU nor in EEA?
- Switzerland (Neither EU nor EEA but can trade like any other EEA)
- Andorra
- Monaco
- San Marino
- Vatican City
SEPA Payment Rules
- Senders account & receivers account holding banks to be in SEPA Union
- Currency of transfer should be EUR
- Default priority of the payment is NORMAL
- Account used to be IBAN – International Bank Account Number
- BIC should be used in the transaction
- Charge bearer should be SLEV/SHAR
- Accounts (Payer & Payee) in EUR
Types of SEPA Payment
- SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT)
- SEPA Direct Debit (SDD)
Did you know there are other kinds of payments apart from SEPA? check out here: Global Payments, Domestic, Book Transfers