SEPA DIRECT DEBIT

The Single European Payment Area (SEPA), a Europe-wide standard direct debit procedure, has significantly simplified cross-border direct debits. SEPA direct debits enable uniform payment transactions within the European payments area with 34 participating countries, so that payments can be processed just as easily as at home. Trust in the SEPA-enabled payment modules of Novalnet, so that your international payment transactions also function smoothly and you can continuously increase your turnover.

Advantages

How does SEPA direct debit payment work?

SEPA direct debit was introduced by the European Payments Council for a standardized payment infrastructure within the European Union so that payments can be processed fully automatically within the Eurozone. The prerequisite for this is the written confirmation of a SEPA mandate to the Creditor. In the online sector, this mandate is usually given via electronic means. Novalnet offers you the possibility of SEPA direct debits collected fully automatically from the respective accounts of your customers.

How do you protect yourself against chargebacks?

There are many reasons for a chargeback. As a merchant, it is important that you are protected against fraudsters and payment defaults. For this purpose, Novalnet offers you comprehensive risk management services with numerous fraud prevention modules, including integrated fraud checks during the payment process, credit checks, plausibility checks and database checks. For example, you can use credit checks to automatically block payment methods during checkout so that customers with a low credit score can only opt for certain, secure payment methods.

Dunning process and Receivables management

In case payments fail to come in completely, Novalnet takes care of it through automated debt collection procedures, so that you as a merchant receive your money reliably. Our procedures are designed for personalization and through this ensures a high success rate in the dunning of outstanding amounts. If a dunning procedure is unsuccessful, the matter can be automatically transferred to an external collection agency. This process is completely transparent so that you are always informed about all the dunning steps. There are no additional costs for our receivables management with the exception of legal dunning procedures and postal payment reminders.

Integrated Accounts receivable management

In order not to lose track of your customers’ transactions and payments, we provide you with a comprehensive system for accounts receivable management. This enables us to keep all customer-related activities such as cash receipts, chargebacks, outstanding payments, debt-collection procedures, etc. are always up-to-date and transparent. Our accounts receivable management can be easily connected to existing inventory management systems and has extensive export functionalities simplifying accounting activities. Further advantages are the automation of processes and real-time monitoring. This saves costs and minimizes the risk of errors.

SEPA direct debit

With the introduction of the SEPA direct debit in 2014, domestic and cross-border cashless payments were standardized. This was due to the fact that the European markets had previously been growing closer together, but the respective national payment methods were sometimes very different. The changeover to SEPA changed this and made domestic and cross-border direct debits the same. This has made international payment transactions much easier – both on a private and a business level – but the changeover also went hand in hand with some changes that need to be taken into account.

The national account numbers and bank codes (Basic Bank Account Numbers, BBAN) used in Germany until 2014 were replaced by the international account number IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and the international bank code BIC (Business Identifier Code) as part of the SEPA changeover. Since the EU regulation of February 1, 2014, only the IBAN has to be specified for domestic payments, and the “IBAN only” requirement has also been in effect since February 1, 2016, for cross-border payments in euros within the EU and the EEA member states “.

In order to be able to collect a SEPA direct debit, a valid mandate is required, which includes both the consent of the debtor to collect the payment from the payee and the commissioning of your own bank to redeem the payment. The SEPA mandate must also contain the mandate reference and the creditor identification number, or creditor ID for short. If a SEPA mandate is not used for more than 36 months, it becomes invalid. In addition, the debtor has the option of revoking the mandate at any time. The SEPA mandate can be obtained across national borders.

The creditor ID of the submitter of the direct debit serves the purpose of being able to identify the direct debit creditor clearly and independently of the account. The banking industry forwards the creditor ID together with the mandate reference number that the direct debit creditor has assigned in the SEPA data record across the entire payment process chain to the debtor. In this way, the latter can check the effectiveness of a mandate. The issuing of the creditor ID in Germany is the responsibility of the Deutsche Bundesbank, in close coordination with the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft, DK. The ID can be requested online.

The organization of mandate administration is also important. Novalnet can also support you here.

SEPA countries

The countries that participate in the SEPA direct debit scheme include the 28 EU member states as well as the three other states of the European Economic Area, EEA, and some other states or areas:

EU member states: France, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Estonia, Croatia, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Luxembourg, Austria, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Spain, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Cyprus and the United Kingdom of Great Britain

EEA countries: Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland

Other states/areas: Monaco, Switzerland, Mayotte, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, San Marino

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