The SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) Core scheme is used by thousands of payment service providers (PSPs) who offer individual consumers and businesses the convenience and security of euro direct debits in Europe. This page provides the information PSPs need in order to implement the SDD Core scheme.
The SDD Core rulebook currently in effect up to and including 5 October 2025 is the 2023 SDD Core rulebook version 1.1. Version 1.1 formally replaced version 1.0 of the 2023 SDD Core rulebook at its publication on 14 November 2023.
Read more about the 2023 SDD Core rulebook version 1.1
The Implementation Guidelines of the 2023 SDD Core rulebook are based on the 2019 message version of the ISO 20022 standard.
Read more about the 2023 SDD Core Customer-to-PSP IGs version 1.1
Read more about the 2023 SDD Core Inter-PSP IGs version 1.1
Read more about the 2023 SDD Core e-Mandate service IGs version 1.1
Do you want to use the EPC’s Intellectual Property Rights related to the EPC payment schemes’ rulebooks and implementation guidelines for non-euro transactions? Click here for more information.
The 2025 SDD Core rulebook version 1.0 comes into effect on 5 October 2025 and is applicable up to and including 21 November 2027.
Read more about the 2025 SDD Core rulebook version 1.0
The Implementation Guidelines of the 2025 SDD Core rulebook are based on the 2019 message version of the ISO 20022 standard.
Read more about the 2025 SDD Core Customer-to-PSP IGs version 1.0
Read more about the 2025 SDD Core Inter-PSP IGs version 1.0
Read more about the 2025 SDD Core e-Mandate service IGs version 1.0
- Introduction of the possibility for payment end-users to provide an address of the payer and/or of the payee in a hybrid format alongside the already existing possibilities of submitting an address either in a fully structured format or in an unstructured format (for more information see guidance document EPC153-22).
- Rewording of some EU legislative acts mentioned throughout the rulebook. No regulatory changes at all have been made to the existing business and operational rulebook rules.
Annex IV of the 2025 SDD Core rulebook version 1.0 lists all changes since the version 1.1 of the 2023 SDD Core rulebook.
Guidance on the migration to the 2019 version of the ISO 20022-based XML messaging standard
Guidance on the provision of addresses under the EPC payment schemes
Guidance to improve transparency for retail payment end-users
Guidance on reason codes for SEPA Direct Debit R-transactions
Clarification paper on SEPA Direct Debit Core and SEPA Direct Debit Business-to-Business rulebooks
Clarification Paper on the Use of Slashes in References, Identifications and Identifiers
Clarification letter on electronic mandates to SEPA Direct Debit scheme participants
Recommendation on customer reporting of SCT and SDD
Explanatory note on use of ‘COR1’ and ‘SMNDA’ in SDD R-transactions
SEPA requirements for an extended character set (UNICODE subset) – best practices
Yearly update of the Payment Threats and Fraud Trends Report