SEPA-Direct Debit

SEPA-DIRECT DEBIT

In addition to purchase on account, direct debit is one of the most popular payment methods among Germans. With the Europe-wide standardized direct debit procedure “Single European Payment Area”, or SEPA for short, cross-border debits have been significantly simplified. Because the SEPA direct debit enables standardized payment transactions within the European payments area with 34 participating countries so that payments can be processed just as easily as in Germany. Trust in the SEPA-enabled payment modules from Novalnet so that your international payment transactions also function smoothly and you can continuously increase your sales.

Advantages

How does payment by SEPA direct debit work?

The SEPA direct debit was introduced so that payment processes can be transnational and fully automated. The prerequisite for this is the written issue of a SEPA mandate to the payee. In the online area, this mandate is usually issued electronically. Novalnet offers you the option of having SEPA direct debits collected fully automatically from the respective accounts of your buyers.

How do you protect yourself against chargebacks?

There are many reasons for a return debit. For you as a retailer, it is essential 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 and database checks. With the help of credit checks, you can, for example, automatically block payment methods in the checkout so that customers with a low credit rating can only choose certain, secure payment methods.

Dunning and Receivables Management

If payments fail completely, Novalnet uses automated debt collection procedures to ensure that you, the merchant, receive your money reliably. Our procedures are designed for personalization and thus ensure a high success rate when issuing reminders for outstanding amounts. If a dunning procedure should prove unsuccessful, the matter can be automatically transferred to an external debt collection agency. This process is completely transparent so that you are always informed about all dunning steps. With the exception of legal dunning procedures and postal payment reminders, there are no additional costs for our claims management.

Integrated Accounts Receivable Management

In order not to lose track of your customers’ transactions and payments, we provide you with a comprehensive system for debtor management. This means that we keep all customer-related activities such as incoming payments, return debit notes, outstanding payments, collection procedures, etc. up-to-date and transparent for you. Our accounts receivable management can be easily connected to existing merchandise management systems has extensive export functions and thus simplifies 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 payment transactions 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) in the course of the SEPA changeover. Since the EU regulation of February 1, 2014, only the IBAN has to be specified for domestic payments, and for cross-border payments in euros within the EU and the EEA member states, the “IBAN only” requirement has been in effect since February 1, 2016 “.

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 assigned by the direct debit creditor in the SEPA data record across the entire payment process chain to the debtor. The latter can use this to 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 management 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