SEPA direct debit for API only

Last updated: May 21, 2025

To process a SEPA Direct Debit payment:

Set up the mandate with your customer to obtain their consent.
If you have an existing mandate ID, you can skip this step.
Send the customer a pre-notification of your intent to charge their account.
- Optionally, you can Create a SEPA payment source to store the mandate to use in a recurring payment series.
Request the payment.

To comply with European Payments Council (EPC) requirements, you must set up a mandate to obtain the bank account owner's consent before you can collect SEPA debit payments from their account.

See Move your existing mandates if you have an existing mandate that you want to migrate to Checkout.com.

Checkout.com enables you to store this information as a payment instrument, and generates a mandate_id for you to reference in later payments.

If you do not have a mandate ID, you can create one using the API:

post

https://api.checkout.com/instruments

In the instrument_data.type field, specify the mandate you want to use:

Core
B2B


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "instrument_data": {
4    "type": "Core",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "country": "FR",
8    "payment_type": "Regular",
9    "date_of_signature": "2025-03-22"
10  },
11  "account_holder": {
12    "first_name": "Ali",
13    "last_name": "Farid",
14    "billing_address": {
15      "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
16      "address_line2": "1",
17      "city": "Paris",
18      "zip": "75000",
19      "country": "FR"
20    }
21  }
22}

For a B2B request, you must set:

"instrument_data.type": "B2B"
"account_holder.type": "corporate"
account_holder.company_name to the name of the company whose account you plan to debit


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "instrument_data": {
4    "type": "B2B",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "country": "FR",
8    "payment_type": "Regular",
9    "date_of_signature": "2025-03-22"
10  },
11  "account_holder": {
12    "type": "Corporate",
13    "company_name": "Software Company",
14    "billing_address": {
15      "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
16      "address_line2": "1",
17      "city": "Paris",
18      "zip": "75000",
19      "country": "FR"
20    }
21  }
22}


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "id": "src_wmlfc3zyhqzehihu7giusaaawu",
4  "fingerprint": "vnsdrvikkvre3dtrjjvlm5du4q"
5}

The id returned represents the saved instrument containing your mandate ID. To retrieve the mandate ID, call the Get instrument details endpoint.

Information

There may be a short delay between when you create the instrument, and when the mandate ID can be returned via the request.

You must provide the mandate ID when you create a SEPA payment source, or request a SEPA Direct Debit Core payment.

To comply with EPC requirements, you must send the customer a pre-notification before debiting any funds from their account.

See SEPA payment flow for more information.

If you want to store the mandate to use in a recurring payment series, you can create a SEPA payment source.

You can create the SEPA payment source at any of the following moments:

In the instrument_data.type field, specify the mandate you want to use:

Core
B2B


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "instrument_data": {
4    "type": "Core",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "country": "FR",
8    "payment_type": "Regular",
9    "date_of_signature": "2025-03-22"
10  },
11  "account_holder": {
12    "first_name": "Ali",
13    "last_name": "Farid",
14    "billing_address": {
15      "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
16      "address_line2": "1",
17      "city": "Paris",
18      "zip": "75000",
19      "country": "FR"
20    }
21  }
22}

For a B2B request, you must set:

"instrument_data.type": "B2B"
"account_holder.type": "corporate"
account_holder.company_name to the company name from whose account you plan to debit.


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "instrument_data": {
4    "type": "B2B",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "country": "FR",
8    "payment_type": "Regular",
9    "date_of_signature": "2025-03-22"
10  },
11  "account_holder": {
12    "type": "Corporate",
13    "company_name": "Software Company",
14    "billing_address": {
15      "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
16      "address_line2": "1",
17      "city": "Paris",
18      "zip": "75000",
19      "country": "FR"
20    }
21  }
22}


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "id": "src_wmlfc3zyhqzehihu7giusaaawu",
4  "fingerprint": "vnsdrvikkvre3dtrjjvlm5du4q"
5}

The id returned represents the saved instrument containing your mandate ID. To retrieve the mandate ID, call the Get instrument details endpoint.

Information

There may be a short delay between when you create the instrument, and when the mandate ID is returned in the response.

You receive an instrument ID, which you can reuse as the source in future payment requests.

Call the Request a payment endpoint to create a SEPA payment.

In the instrument_data.type field, specify the mandate you want to use:

Core
B2B

post

https://api.checkout.com/payments


1{
2  "source": {
3    "type": "sepa",
4    "country": "FR",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "mandate_id": "123456",
8    "mandate_type": "Core",
9    "date_of_signature": "2022-08-22",
10    "account_holder": {
11      "first_name": "Ali",
12      "last_name": "Farid",
13      "billing_address": {
14        "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
15        "address_line2": "1",
16        "city": "Paris",
17        "zip": "75000",
18        "country": "FR"
19      }
20    }
21  },
22  "payment_type": "Regular",
23  "amount": 10000,
24  "currency": "EUR",
25  "processing_channel_id": "pc_xyz",
26  "success_url": "https://example.com/payments/success",
27  "failure_url": "https://example.com/payments/failure"
28}

For a B2B request, you must set:

"instrument_data.type": "B2B"
"account_holder.type": "corporate"
account_holder.company_name to the company name from whose account you plan to debit.


1{
2  "source": {
3    "type": "sepa",
4    "country": "FR",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "mandate_id": "123456",
8    "mandate_type": "B2B",
9    "date_of_signature": "2022-08-22",
10    "account_holder": {
11      "type": "corporate",
12      "company_name": "Software Company",
13      "billing_address": {
14        "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
15        "address_line2": "1",
16        "city": "Paris",
17        "zip": "75000",
18        "country": "FR"
19      }
20    }
21  },
22  "payment_type": "Regular",
23  "amount": 10000,
24  "currency": "EUR",
25  "processing_channel_id": "pc_xyz",
26  "success_url": "https://example.com/payments/success",
27  "failure_url": "https://example.com/payments/failure"
28}

If you receive a 202 Accepted response with the status Pending, your request was successful.


1{
2  "id": "pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru",
3  "status": "Pending",
4  "source": {
5    "id": "src_3ycibaogn7gexoo4p7i6jmitz4",
6    "type": "sepa"
7  },
8  "_links": {
9    "self": {
10      "href": "https://api.checkout.com/payments/pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru"
11    }
12  }
13}

Call the Request a payment endpoint to create a SEPA payment.

In the instrument_data.type field, specify the mandate you want to use:

Core
B2B

post

https://api.checkout.com/payments

To request a payment against a one-off mandate, set payment_type to Regular.
To request a payment against a recurring mandate, set payment_type to Recurring.


1{
2  "payment_type": "Recurring",
3  "source": {
4    "type": "id",
5    "id": "src_wmlfc3zyhqzehihu7giusaaawu"
6  },
7  "amount": 10000,
8  "currency": "EUR",
9  "processing_channel_id": "pc_xyz",
10  "success_url": "https://example.com/payments/success",
11  "failure_url": "https://example.com/payments/failure"
12}

If you receive a 202 Accepted response with a status field set to Pending, your request was successful.


1{
2  "id": "pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru",
3  "status": "Pending",
4  "source": {
5    "id": "src_wmlfc3zyhqzehihu7giusaaawu",
6    "type": "sepa"
7  },
8  "processing": {
9    "partner_payment_id": "GA3OX32ASX3E5A7"
10  },
11  "_links": {
12    "self": {
13      "href": "https://api.checkout.com/payments/pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru"
14    }
15  }
16}


1{
2  "source": {
3    "type": "sepa",
4    "country": "FR",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "mandate_id": "123456",
8    "date_of_signature": "2022-08-22",
9    "account_holder": {
10      "first_name": "Ali",
11      "last_name": "Farid",
12      "billing_address": {
13        "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
14        "address_line2": "1",
15        "city": "Paris",
16        "zip": "75000",
17        "country": "FR"
18      }
19    }
20  },
21  "payment_type": "Regular",
22  "amount": 10000,
23  "currency": "EUR",
24  "processing_channel_id": "pc_xyz",
25  "success_url": "https://example.com/payments/success",
26  "failure_url": "https://example.com/payments/failure"
27}

If you receive a 202 Accepted response with a status field set to Pending, your request was successful.


1{
2  "id": "pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru",
3  "status": "Pending",
4  "source": {
5    "id": "src_3ycibaogn7gexoo4p7i6jmitz4",
6    "type": "sepa"
7  },
8  "_links": {
9    "self": {
10      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/payments/pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru"
11    },
12    "succeed": {
13      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru/finalize/Accepted"
14    },
15    "decline": {
16      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru/finalize/Rejected"
17    }
18  }
19}

You can retrieve details about an existing SEPA Direct Debit Core payment using the following endpoint.

For the full API specification, see the API reference.

get

https://api.checkout.com/payments/{id}


1{
2  "id": "pay_ukzxtgobaoiu7l3gm2x6qxirru",
3  "requested_on": "2023-03-24T07:43:12.9792854Z",
4  "source": {
5    "id": "src_wmlfc3zyhqzehihu7giusaaawu",
6    "type": "sepa"
7  },
8  "amount": 10000,
9  "currency": "EUR",
10  "payment_type": "Recurring",
11  "status": "Pending",
12  "processing": {
13    "partner_payment_id": "GA3OX32ASX3E5A7"
14  },
15  "_links": {
16    "self": {
17      "href": "https://api.checkout.com/payments/pay_ihrxjxcbjegeliqmdr72lby2aq"
18    },
19    "actions": {
20      "href": "https://api.checkout.com/payments/pay_ihrxjxcbjegeliqmdr72lby2aq/actions"
21    }
22  }
23}

You can partially or fully refund a payment through the Dashboard or the Refund API if:

It has been seven or more days since the original payment date.
The payment status is captured.

When you request a refund, you receive a payment_refund_pending webhook.

If the refund is successfully sent and approved by the SEPA Direct Debit network, you receive a payment_refunded webhook. The payment status changes to refunded or partially_refunded.

Information

If you plan to issue a refund, you should communicate this to the customer to prevent them from simultaneously canceling the payment with their bank. If the customer is credited twice, contact them directly to resolve the situation.

If the refund is declined by the SEPA Direct Debit network or the customer's bank, you receive a payment_refund_declined webhook.

Customers can reverse a payment made against an SEPA Direct Debit Core mandate up to eight weeks after the original payment date.

The customer 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.

If a customer initiates a return, you receive a payment_returned webhook.

You cannot challenge SEPA Direct Debit Core reversals initiated by the customer. The funds are always returned to the customer. If you dispute a reversal, contact your customer directly.

Information

You can initiate a reversal for a payment made against an SEPA Direct Debit Core mandate that has not been authorized up to 13 months after the original payment date.

To start testing, contact your account manager or implementation engineer to enable SEPA Direct Debit payments in the sandbox environment.

To perform a test payment, you must generate a valid IBAN using an online IBAN generator.

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/payments


1{
2  "source": {
3    "type": "sepa",
4    "country": "FR",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "mandate_id": "123456",
8    "date_of_signature": "2023-04-21",
9    "account_holder": {
10      "first_name": "Ali",
11      "last_name": "Farid",
12      "billing_address": {
13        "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
14        "address_line2": "1",
15        "city": "Paris",
16        "zip": "75000",
17        "country": "FR"
18      }
19    }
20  },
21  "reference": "Test Reference",
22  "payment_type": "Regular",
23  "amount":1000,
24  "currency": "EUR",
25  "processing_channel_id":  "pc_xyz",
26  "success_url": "https://example.com/payments/success",
27  "failure_url": "https://example.com/payments/failure",
28  "description": "Test description",
29  "billing_descriptor": {
30    "name": "Test billing descriptor",
31    "city": "Paris",
32    "reference": "Test billing descriptor reference"
33  }
34}


1{
2  "id": "pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom",
3  "status": "Pending",
4  "reference": "Test Regular Payment SEPA 23.06.2023",
5  "source": {
6    "id": "src_tko5xm22x7aetihg6befv5p7me",
7    "type": "sepa"
8  },
9  "_links": {
10    "self": {
11      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom"
12    },
13    "succeed": {
14      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom/finalize/Accepted"
15    },
16    "decline": {
17      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom/finalize/Rejected"
18    }
19  }
20}

To perform a test payment with a payment instrument, you must first create the test instrument using the following endpoint:

post

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/instruments

In your request, use your client ID as the merchant_identifier value.


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "instrument_data": {
4    "country": "FR",
5    "account_number": "FR7630006000011234567890189",
6    "currency": "EUR",
7    "payment_type": "Regular"
8  },
9  "account_holder": {
10    "first_name": "Ali",
11    "last_name": "Farid",
12    "billing_address": {
13      "address_line1": "Rue Exemple",
14      "address_line2": "1",
15      "city": "Paris",
16      "zip": "7500",
17      "country": "FR"
18    }
19  },
20  "merchant_identifier": "cli_xyz"
21}


1{
2  "type": "sepa",
3  "id": "src_bvql42klnjve7nrcgix66lconq",
4  "fingerprint": "kbzfhm3mxiuedjgi6ceb2tdcuy"
5}

To perform a test payment with the payment instrument, in your payment request:

Set source.type to id.
Set source.id to the id value returned in the Create a payment instrument response.

//REVIEW: Finalization statuses ?

Payments automatically move through different states during processing. For example, the status may change from approved to refunded. When testing payment flows, you can manually change the status of a test payment to simulate different scenarios.

To change a test payment status:

Create a test payment as shown in the Perform a test payment section.
You receive a response with the following _links object:


1{
2  "_links": {
3      "succeed": {
4        "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom/finalize/Accepted"
5      },
6      "decline": {
7        "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom/finalize/Rejected"
8      }
9    }
10}

Accept the payment by sending a PUT request to the _links.succeed.href URL.
After accepting the payment, you receive a response with the following _links object: Payments automatically move through different states during processing. For example, the status may change from approved to refunded. When testing payment flows, you can manually change the status of a test payment to simulate different scenarios.

To change a test payment status:

Create a test payment as shown in the Perform a test payment section.
You receive a response with the following _links object:


1{
2  "_links": {
3      "succeed": {
4        "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom/finalize/Accepted"
5      },
6      "decline": {
7        "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_d7mgufw7cjuebp6hs25j27onom/finalize/Rejected"
8      }
9    }
10}

Accept the payment by sending a PUT request to the _links.succeed.href URL.
After accepting the payment, you receive a response with the following _links object:


1{
2  "_links": {
3    "reject": {
4      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_pprqxl2py3kuxiu5qhtjk6exxe/finalize/Rejected"
5    },
6    "return": {
7      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_pprqxl2py3kuxiu5qhtjk6exxe/finalize/Returned"
8    },
9    "chargeback": {
10      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/payments/pay_pprqxl2py3kuxiu5qhtjk6exxe/finalize/Refunded"
11    },
12    "refund": {
13      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/payments/pay_pprqxl2py3kuxiu5qhtjk6exxe/refunds"
14    },
15    "actions": {
16      "href": "https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/payments/pay_pprqxl2py3kuxiu5qhtjk6exxe/actions"           
17    }
18  }
19}

To simulate a specific action, use the corresponding URL provided in the _links object. For example:
- To return a payment, send a PUT request to the URL specified in _links.return.href.
- To view all previous statuses of the payment, use the _links.actions.href endpoint.

You can also view a list of these actions by calling the Get payment details endpoint, setting the {id} query parameter to the payment_id received in the test payment response.

The SEPA Direct Debit network blocks refunds until seven days after the original payment was created.

To bypass this restriction in the sandbox environment, use 4815162342 as your mandate ID when you request your test payment or create your test payment instrument.

After you perform the test refund you can finalize and capture it by calling the following endpoint:

put

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/{paymentId}/refunds/{refundId}/finalize/accepted

Alternatively, to decline the test refund, call the following endpoint:

put

https://api.sandbox.checkout.com/apms/sepa/{paymentId}/refunds/{refundId}/finalize/rejected

SEPA direct debit for API only

Set up the mandate

Create a mandate ID

Request example

Response example

Information

Send a pre-notification

Create a SEPA payment source
Optional

Create a payment source before your first payment

Request example

Response example

Information

Create a payment source with your first payment request

Request example

Response example

Request a payment

Request example

Response example

Response example

Get details about a payment

Response example

Refund a payment

Information

Process a payment return

Information

Perform a test payment

Request example

Response example

Perform a test payment with a payment instrument

Request example

Response example

Transition a test payment's status

Perform a test refund

Set up the mandate

Create a mandate ID

Request example

Response example

Information

Send a pre-notification

Create a SEPA payment source Optional

Create a payment source before your first payment

Request example

Response example

Information

Create a payment source with your first payment request

Request example

Response example

Request a payment

Request example

Response example

Get details about a payment

Response example

Refund a payment

Information

Process a payment return

Information

Perform a test payment

Request example

Response example

Perform a test payment with a payment instrument

Request example

Response example

Transition a test payment's status

Perform a test refund

Create a SEPA payment source
Optional