SEPA

*SEPA payments to countries outside the EU and EEA are temporarily charged as SEPA payments within the EU and EEA.

Payments in the SEPA area offer several practical benefits for both natural persons and entrepreneurs.

• Available bank instruction: IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is the sole account and bank identifier for SEPA payments.
• One account only: Citizens and businesses from SEPA countries need just one bank account from/to which payments can be made/received in Euro within the SEPA area as easily as domestic payments.
• Simple payment processing: As all incoming and outgoing payments have the same format, their processing is simpler (universal message standards, ISO 20022).
• Faster payment clearing process: Payments are credited to the recipient on the next business day after the receipt of the payment order in the payer’s bank.

Important data for a SEPA payment

• IBAN: IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is used to clearly identify the payment account.
• BIC: BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is used to identify the bank at which the recipient’s/payer’s account is held. IBAN contains details about the recipient’s/payer’s bank, BIC is an optional identifier for payment orders within the SEPA area. It is only compulsory in the foreign payments system.
• Payer’s reference: used for a more specific payment identification. Payment symbols (variable (VS), specific (SS) and constant (KS) symbols) are used for this purpose in Slovakia. They are transferred in the field “Payer’s reference” in accordance with the agreed rules. An example of a payer’s reference: /VS1234567890/SS9876543210/KS1234.
  
  For a foreign SEPA payment, the field “Payer's reference”:
  1. cannot contain the “/” sign in the first or last position,
  2. cannot contain “//” (two slashes in a row).

• XML standard: XML format under ISO20022 Standard is used to import payment orders and export electronic statements.

A SEPA direct debit is a cashless payment made in Euro within the SEPA area. The payment order is submitted by the payee. The payer authorizes a direct debit by an authorization directly to the payee.

• SEPA direct debit authorization is a payer’s paper or electronic approval to debit his/her account via a SEPA direct debit. The payer issues the authorization directly to the SEPA direct debit payee and the direct debit payee is obliged to archive this authorization.
• XML standard uses the XML format under ISO20022 Standard. The bank provides the Multicash electronic system for sending SEPA direct debit payment orders.
• More about SEPA direct debit

• For a domestic payment order, enter the payer’s reference for more specific payment identification. After entering the variable, specific and constant symbols, the payer’s reference is added automatically. You can enter the payee’s account number as IBAN, otherwise IBAN will automatically be added after entering the payee’s account number.
• For a foreign payment order, if you are sending a payment in Euro and the payee’s IBAN is from the SEPA area, you can enter the payer’s reference for more specific payment identification.

• If you use batch payments (payment order files), use the XML transfer format with the structure pain.001
• You also have statements for your accounting records available: electronic statements generated via Internet Banking^TB for SEPA purposes in XML format – camt.053.
• To enter a SEPA direct debit authorization, use various access levels to your account.