# SEPA Direct Debit > **Information** > > SEPA Direct Debit is available for Flow. Flow enables you to [accept payments on your website](https://www.checkout.com/docs/payments/accept-payments/accept-a-payment-on-your-website.md) using Checkout.com's global network of payment methods with a single integration. The [Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area) is an European Union initiative to simplify payments within and across member countries. SEPA established and enforced banking standards to enable direct debits from every Euro-denominated bank account within the SEPA region. Checkout.com supports: - [SEPA Direct Debit Core](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/epc-payment-schemes/sepa-direct-debit/sepa-direct-debit-core-rulebook-and-implementation) – For transactions between business and personal bank accounts - [SEPA Direct Debit B2B](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/epc-payment-schemes/sepa-direct-debit/sepa-direct-debit-b2b-rulebook-and-implementation) – For transactions between business bank accounts only Participating banks must charge the same fees for cross-border core payments as they do for direct debit payments processed within their own country. You can process SEPA for one-off transactions and recurring payments. However, due to the risk of chargebacks, we do not recommend using SEPA when: - You need an immediate confirmation of payment. - The risk of chargebacks from customers is a significant concern. - You're processing one-off or very infrequent payments. - Your business process requires immediate notification when a payment fails. > **Information** > > To enable SEPA payments on your account, contact your account manager or [request support](https://dashboard.checkout.com/support/new?topic=case_account_management_and_access&issue=issue_account_changes). | | | | --- | --- | | Model | Collecting | | Payment method | Direct debit | | Auto capture | ✓ | | Void | ✗ | | Deferred capture | ✗ | | Partial capture | ✗ | | Multiple partial capture | ✗ | | Refund | ✓ | | Partial refund | ✓ | | Chargeback | ✓ Returns and chargebacks | | Recurring payment | ✓ | --- ## Creditor ID and billing descriptor The SEPA Creditor Identifier (Creditor ID or CSI) is a unique reference number used in SEPA Direct Debit payments to identify the creditor or company collecting the payment. All your payments are collected using Checkout.com's Creditor ID, so you do not need to obtain your own. Ensure that you show our creditor ID in the mandate authorization to request your customer's consent. To also display your merchant name in the customer's statement, you must provide the `billing_descriptor.name` field in your payment request. --- ## SEPA payment flow To debit payments from your customer's account, you must first obtain their written consent through a mandate. The mandate must contain specific legal wording regarding the customer's authorization and refund rights. See the [European Payment Council (EPC) mandate guidelines](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/document-library/guidance-documents/guidelines-appearance-mandates-sepa-direct-debit-schemes) for more information. In addition to this mandate, you also collect required information such as the customer's name and bank account details. **SEPA direct debit core mandate sample** Merchant logo
Checkout SAS - 20 bis rue, La Fayette, 75009 Paris,
Creditor identifier: Checkout.com Creditor ID
Billing descriptor: Checkout.com
SEPA Core Direct Debit mandate
Type of payment: □ Recurring or □ one-off
By signing this mandate form, you authorize (A) [Checkout.com re MERCHANT NAME] to send instructions to your bank to debit your account and (B) your bank to debit your account in accordance with the instructions from [Checkout.com re MERCHANT NAME]. As part of your rights, you are entitled to a refund from your bank under the terms and conditions of your agreement with your bank. A refund must be claimed within 8 weeks starting from the date on which your account was debited. Your rights are explained in a statement that you can obtain from your bank.
UNDERSIGNED
Debtor data:
Company name: ____________
Or
First name: ____________
Last name: ____________
Address and number: ____________
Postal code and city/town: ____________
Country: ____________
Account number (IBAN): ____________
BIC: ____________
Date (day/month/year): ____________/ ____________ / ____________
Signature: **SEPA direct debit B2B mandate sample** Merchant logo
Checkout SAS - 20 bis rue, La Fayette, 75009 Paris,
Creditor Identifier: Checkout.com Creditor ID
Billing descriptor: Checkout.com
SEPA Business-to-Business Direct Debit Mandate
TYPE OF PAYMENT: □ recurrent or □ one-off
By signing this mandate form, you authorize (A) [Checkout.com re MERCHANT NAME] to send instructions to your bank to debit your account and (B) your bank to debit your account in accordance with the instructions from [Checkout.com re MERCHANT NAME]. This mandate is only intended for business-to-business transactions. You are not entitled to a refund from your bank after your account has been debited, but you are entitled to request your bank not to debit your account up until the day on which the payment is due. Please contact your bank for detailed procedures in such a case.
UNDERSIGNED
Debtor data: Company name: ____________
Address and number: ____________
Postal code and city/town: ____________
Country: ____________
Account number (IBAN): ____________
BIC: ____________
Date (day/month/year): ____________/ ____________ / ____________
Signature: After setting up the mandate, you must notify your customer of the amount and collection date at least 14 days before you collect the payment. The pre-notification must contain the following information: - For a one-off mandate, the date the payment will be debited from their account - For a recurring mandate, the recurring date the payment will be debited from their account - The payment amount - The mandate ID - The creditor ID - Your contact details > **Note** > > For SEPA B2B payments, the business that is paying must confirm the mandate with their bank. You can send the pre-notification via any of the following methods: - Email - Invoice - Letter - Phone - SMS **SEPA pre-notification sample** SEPA Direct Debit Pre-notification Sample Date: [Date of sending the pre-notification]
Creditor details: - Creditor name: Checkout.com - Creditor identifier: Checkout.com Creditor Id - Address: Checkout SAS - 20 bis rue, La Fayette, 75009 Paris, - Contact details: [Your company phone number/email] Debtor Details: - Debtor Name: [Customer Name] - Debtor Address: [Customer Address] - Payment Details: - Amount: €[Amount to be debited] - Due Date: [Date the payment will be debited from the customer's account] - Mandate Reference: [Mandate ID] - What's this for: [For example, Invoice for goods/services, Subscription fee, Rent] - Payment Scheme: SEPA Direct Debit Core This is a friendly reminder about an upcoming payment. We'll be debiting €[Amount to be debited] from your account (IBAN: [Debtor's IBAN]) on [Due Date]. This relates to the direct debit agreement you set up with us. Mandate reference: [Unique identifier for the direct debit mandate] If anything is unclear, or you have any questions, please contact [Your company phone number/email]. The payment flow follows these steps: 1. When you send the payment request, Checkout.com validates and forwards it to our sponsor bank. 2. The bank checks the SEPA direct debit authorization and sends it to the customer's bank. 3. The next day, the customer's bank checks the request and either confirms or rejects it. 4. If the request is confirmed, the following day the bank credits the amount to our bank account. SEPA Core offers strong customer protections, including: - Eight-week refund right – Customers can request a refund for any authorized transaction within eight weeks of the debit. - 13-month refund right – Customers can request a refund for any unauthorized debits made without a valid mandate for up to 13 months after the debit. SEPA B2B does not offer these guarantees because customers cannot request refunds for authorized payment collections. > **Information** > > Returns driven by customer's bank rejection can be communicated up to 6 days after the payment capture. --- ## Payment returns and chargebacks After the payment is captured, it can still get rejected by the customer bank. Returns driven by rejection can be communicated to us up to 6 days after the payment request. You receive a `payment_returned` webhook when this happens. Customers can reverse a payment made against a SEPA Core mandate up to eight weeks after the original payment date. Customers may submit a claim with their bank to reverse the payment if: * They want to revoke the direct debit authorization. * They state that they did not provide authorization for the direct debit. You cannot challenge a SEPA return initiated by the customer. The funds will always return to the customer. If you have an issues with a reversal, contact your customer directly. > **Information** > > Customers can initiate a reversal for a payment made against a SEPA mandate that has not been authorized up to 13 months after the original payment date. --- ## Transfer your existing mandates If you already process SEPA payments yourself or with another provider, you must transfer your mandates to Checkout.com's platform. To transfer your mandates to Checkout.com, follow these steps: 1. Update your creditor ID and inform your customers. 2. Upload the details of your mandates to our platform. ### Update your creditor ID 1. Contact your account manager to request a Checkout.com creditor ID. 2. Change your current provider's creditor ID to our creditor ID.
This is the ID that you must show your customers when setting up mandates. 3. Contact the customers you will collect payments from, and inform them of the creditor ID change.
This helps you reduce chargebacks from your customers, because they are less likely to reject payments if they're aware of the creditor ID change. ### Upload your mandate details You can upload your mandate details to Checkout.com in one of the following ways: * For each mandate, call the [Create instrument](https://api-reference.checkout.com/tag/Instruments/#operation/createAnInstrument) endpoint to upload its details.
The response returns an `src_id` field, which you use for subsequent collections. See [Create a payment source before your first payment](https://www.checkout.com/docs/payments/add-payment-methods/sepa-direct-debit/unified-payments-api.md#Create_a_payment_source_before_your_first_payment) for more information. * Send the first payment request with the mandate ID and date of signature.
We then generate a new `src_id` value for you to use for subsequent collections. See [Create a payment source with your first payment request](https://www.checkout.com/docs/payments/add-payment-methods/sepa-direct-debit/unified-payments-api.md#Create_a_payment_source_with_your_first_payment_request) for more information. --- ## Webhooks Checkout.com communicates status updates for your payments through webhooks. You must [configure your webhook server](https://www.checkout.com/docs/developer-resources/event-notifications/receive-webhooks/configure-your-webhook-server.md). During the lifecycle of a SEPA Direct Debit payment, you can receive the following webhooks: | Webhook | Description | | --- | --- | | `payment_pending` | Checkout.com has accepted your request. | | `payment_declined` | The bank declined the payment request due to a technical or fraud-related issue. | | `payment_capture_pending` | We have successfully sent your request to our sponsor bank. | | `payment_captured` | The bank accepted the payment request. | | `payment_returned` | There was a failure after an initial success.
The funds move out of your account.

There are three types of return:

- Post-settlement return – Up to five days after the initial capture
- Authorized refund – Up to eight weeks after the initial capture
- Unauthorized disputes – Up to 13 months after the initial capture | | `payment_refunded` | The bank successfully received confirmation from the SEPA network and the funds have been transferred. | | `payment_refund_declined` | The bank declined the payment request due to a technical or fraud-related issue. | The following sections describe the order in which each notification is sent, depending on the payment lifecycle: **Successful payment** 1. `payment_pending` 2. `payment_capture_pending` 3. `payment_captured` **Unsuccessful payment** 1. `payment_pending` 2. `payment_capture_pending` 3. `payment_declined` **Payment Refunded** 1. `payment_pending` 2. `payment_capture_pending` 3. `payment_captured` 4. `payment_refund_pending` 5. `payment_refunded` **Payment Returned** 1. `payment_pending` 2. `payment_capture_pending` 3. `payment_captured` 4. `payment_returned` --- ## Response codes You can receive the following response codes when processing SEPA Direct Debit Core payments: | Response code | Description | | --- | --- | | `20014` | Invalid account number | | `20018` | Customer dispute | | `20051` | Insufficient funds | | `30001` | Direct debit forbidden on this account for regulatory reasons | | `30002` | Incorrect payment transaction code, or sequence error | | `30005` | Incorrect creditor ID | | `30006` | Creditor bank not registered under this BIC in the CSM | | `30008` | No valid mandate or unauthorized transaction | | `30009` | Disputed authorized transaction | | `30010` | Debtor refuses the collection

You can receive this code before or after settlement, depending on how quickly the debtor's bank responds to the refusal. | | `30011` | Reason not specified (agent generated) | | `30012` | Incorrect bank identifier | | `30013` | Debtor name or address required for regulatory reasons is insufficient or missing | | `30014` | Creditor name or address required for regulatory reasons is insufficient or missing | | `30025` | Regulatory reasons | | `30026` | Conflict with customer instructions

The request conflicts with specific instructions your customer has added to their account. For example, they may have added the creditor to a denylist, or not explicitly added them to an allowlist. | | `30027` | Duplicate entry | | `30046` | Account closed | | `30047` | Account frozen | | `300BS` | Rejected | | `300AS` | Returned | --- ## Available for - [Web](https://www.checkout.com/docs/payments/add-payment-methods/sepa-direct-debit/web.md): Accept SEPA Direct Debit payments on your website with Flow, our pre-built, customizable payment user interface. - [Payment Setup API](https://www.checkout.com/docs/payments/add-payment-methods/sepa-direct-debit/payment-setup-api.md): Build your own UI and integrate with our Payment Setup API to process SEPA Direct Debit payments. - [Unified Payments API](https://www.checkout.com/docs/payments/add-payment-methods/sepa-direct-debit/unified-payments-api.md): Build your own UI and integrate with our API to process SEPA payments.