SEPA – Single Euro Payment Area
We have the euro since 2002. That’s a basic for the European banking industry’s great idea started in 2008. That will make all electronic payments across the euro area e.g. by credit card, debit card, bank transfer or direct debit as easy as domestic payments within one country are now.
If you’re making a payment in euros to an account in the Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA), the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, you may prefer to make a SEPA credit transfer.
This carries a lower charge than our International Payment Service but may not arrive as quickly. You will also need the SWIFT Bank Identifier Code (BIC) and the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) of the account to which you are sending the money.
Earlier national-designation schemes will be abolished by February 2014, providing uniform access to the new payment instruments. Then BIC information for national payments will not matter tuppence, in February 2016 for international payments.