Glossary · Payment methods
SEPA credit transfer
Also called SCT
A SEPA credit transfer is a euro bank transfer between accounts anywhere in the Single Euro Payments Area, credited by the next business day.
The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) lets euro transfers between participating countries work like domestic ones: same format, same rules, same speed. The EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the UK and several other European countries take part.
A standard SEPA credit transfer must reach the recipient’s bank by the end of the next business day. The payer needs only the recipient’s name and IBAN, and can include a reference of up to 140 characters — room for invoice numbers.
Within the EU, a cross-border euro transfer can’t cost more than the same transfer domestically, so there is no fee reason for a customer in another EU country to pay you late or short.
Example
A Belgian client pays a Spanish supplier’s €6,500 invoice by SEPA credit transfer on Tuesday, quoting the invoice number. It arrives in Spain on Wednesday at the latest.