The two EPC SEPA Direct Debit schemes offer consumers and businesses a convenient and secure means of paying bills. They are used to facilitate over 20 billion transactions every year in SEPA.
The EPC designs and manages euro payment and payment-related schemes that contribute to the creation of a single payments market in Europe and facilitate economic exchanges in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) for citizens and businesses alike.
We help make it possible for citizens and businesses to pay with the same ease and convenience across the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) as in their home country.
The Register of Participants lists all payment service providers (PSPs) and other eligible institutions who adhere to the EPC payment and payment related schemes.
The SEPA Direct Debit schemes (SDD) provide the sets of rules that enable a harmonised application by all participating payment service providers (PSPs) in Europe. PSPs can also provide additional services to meet specific customer needs.
Clearing and Settlement Mechanisms (CSMs) are the processes underlying all payment transactions exchanged between two payment service providers (PSPs).
When citizens travel in Europe or shop online on websites based in other European countries, they should be able to withdraw cash or pay by card as easily as they do in their home country.
A credit transfer is an electronic payment from one payment account to another. The SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) scheme makes the transfer of money in Europe easy and convenient.
In order to efficiently and automatically exchange information and process payments in SEPA, financial institutions across the area have to speak the same technical language.
The SEPA project and the EPC’s drive to improve payments harmonisation and innovation in Europe both encourage a shift from cash to electronic payments.
If you have ever tried to pay with your smartphone in a shop, you are familiar with ‘mobile proximity payments’. The smartphone is the device used to access payment details such as card information when executing a face-to-face transaction.