SEPA Direct Debit

The standard method for collecting Euro-denominated recurring payments, from regular subscription payments and monthly donations, to one-click payments or paying in instalments.

Currently, 36 countries use the SEPA Direct Debit system which makes SEPA Direct Debit incredibly powerful for Europe-wide expansion of subscription services.

How it works

Key information

Available country codes

EU countries: AT, BE, BG, HR, CY, CZ, DK, EE, FI, FR, DE, GR, HU, IE, IT, LV, LT, LU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SI, ES, SE
EEA Countries: IS, LI, NO
Countries that have bilateral agreements with EU: AD, SM, MC, VA

Supported merchant locations

European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, Switzerland

Supported currencies

EUR

API method name

directdebit

Supported API

Payments API , Orders API

Minimum transaction amount

0.01 EUR

Maximum transaction amount

1,000.00 EUR (Default Limit)

Session timeout

60 minutes / 15 minutes

Supported operations

Auto-Capture
Full refund
Partial refunds

Refund validity

365 days

Recurring

Yes

Settlement delay

9 business days

Chargeback risk

Yes

Chargeback period

Within 8 weeks.
If this period is over, the customer can choose to do an unauthorized Direct debit report with the bank within 13 months of payment.

Resource pack

Available here

First Payment Authorisation

In order to get started with recurring payments you require the customer’s consent. This can be done via a first payment. It’s similar to a regular payment, but the customer is shown information about your organization, and the customer needs to complete the payment with the account that will be used for recurring charges in the future. After the first payment is completed successfully, the customer’s account will immediately be chargeable on-demand, or periodically through subscriptions.

The following methods support first payments for SEPA Direct Debit

  • Bancontact
  • Belfius
  • EPS
  • iDEAL
  • KBC Payment Button
  • MyBank
  • Trustly
  • Pay by Bank