What is a SEPA bank transfer?

The SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a European network that lets you send and receive money in euros – via credit transfer and direct debit – to anywhere in the European Union (EU), as well as a number of non-EU countries, in a fast, safe and efficient way, just like domestic payments.

With SEPA, sending money within the eurozone is as easy as making a normal domestic bank transfer.

 

Which countries are included in the SEPA?

There are currently 36 SEPA member states: 

• Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Vatican City

 

How do SEPA bank transfers work?

Holvi currently offers two of three SEPA bank transfer types:

• SEPA Credit Transfer
• SEPA Direct Debit Transfer
• SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (coming soon)

 

SEPA Credit Transfers

SEPA Credit Transfers – also called simply ‘bank transfers’ – use the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and occasionally the BIC (Business Identifier Code) numbers of both the sender and the recipient’s bank accounts to move money from one account to another. 

Once a transfer is authorised, the recipient should receive their money within one business day after the payment was made. View our processing times for incoming and outgoing SEPA transfers.

 

 

SEPA Direct Debits

In contrast to the SEPA Credit Transfer, the SEPA Direct Debits are frequently used for recurring payments. Some examples of recurring payments may include your monthly rent, internet or electricity bills or regular loan repayment instalments.

Similar to the other SEPA transfers, the SEPA Direct Debits also require the IBAN – and occasionally the BIC – of both the sender and the recipient’s bank accounts. But because the SEPA Direct Debits work as a ‘pull-based’ payment method, it’s slightly different to other SEPA transfers. In this case, the roles are reversed and the recipient of the funds must request the money transfer from the sender.

First, the recipient who will receive the funds must send a request to the sender to allow the money to be withdrawn (i.e. ‘pulled’) from the sender’s account. Before any money can be transferred, the sender must sign a ‘mandate’, which is a contract that allows the recipient of the funds to take money out from the sender’s account on a recurring basis. This can be especially useful if you’d rather have your bill payments automatically taken out from your account each month, rather than remembering to pay the bill on time yourself.

Holvi offers SEPA Core Direct Debits. You can read more about Holvi SEPA Core Direct Debits here.

 

How long do SEPA transfers take?

The length of time for a SEPA transfer to be completed depends on which type of SEPA transfer you choose.

• The SEPA Credit Transfer takes one business day
• The SEPA Core Direct Debit Transfer takes a minimum of two business days

 

Are there any SEPA transfer charges?

At Holvi, SEPA transfers to a cross-border country cost the same amount as a local bank transfer. Each Holvi plan includes a set number of SEPA transfers. Once this number is reached, additional transfers can be made for an additional cost, based on your plan.

If you’re sending a SEPA transfer to a non-Euro country, there may be an extra currency conversion fee. For example, if you’re sending money from Finland to Sweden, your euros would need to be converted to Swedish Krona. This can sometimes incur additional bank charges.

 

Are there any SEPA transfer limits?

The transfer limits – or simply put, the maximum amount of money that you can transfer at a time – depends on which type of SEPA transfer you choose.

• SEPA Credit Transfers have a maximum transfer limit of €999,999,999.99
• SEPA Direct Debit Transfers do not have a fixed transfer limit