what is sepa payment

SEPA stands for Single Euro Payments Area, which is a payment integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers denominated in euro. It enables customers to make cashless euro payments to any account located anywhere in the area, using a single bank account and a single set of payment instruments. SEPA covers predominantly normal bank transfers and does not cover payments in currencies other than the euro. The initiative was introduced for credit transfers in 2008, followed by direct debits in 2009, and fully implemented by 2014 in the euro area (and by 2016 in non-euro area SEPA countries). SEPA payments are cashless payments in euro currency that are processed via the Single Euro Payments Area network to facilitate cross-border bank transfers in 36 Eurozone and non-euro area countries. SEPA payments are processed via four payment processing schemes: SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Instant Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Credit Core, and SEPA Direct Debit Business-to-Business. The purpose of the SEPA initiative is to make cross-border electronic payments as inexpensive and easy as payments within one country, and it has contributed to the efficiency and competitiveness of the European economy as a whole by eliminating differences between national and cross-border payments by harmonizing standards in all the participating countries.