An introduction to Direct Debit in the Eurozone
SEPA Direct Debit
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is an EU initiative to harmonise payments across the Eurozone.
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a European Union (EU) initiative to harmonise payments across the Eurozone. Its goal is to make European payments as easy and cheap as domestic ones by creating a single market for euro-denominated payments.
To achieve this, the European Payments Council (EPC) has created three SEPA schemes. Each scheme is a set of interbank “rules, practices and standards” that defines a payment instrument:
- SEPA Direct Debit (SDD)
- SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT)
- SEPA Cards Framework (SCF)
