To collect euro payments from UK-based operations, you use SEPA Direct Debit Core, which collects euro payments under a customer mandate from accounts held with Participants located within SEPA (1). You and your customer must each hold an account with a Participant located within SEPA.
Setting up recurring euro collections from a UK base
Start with the Mandate, an authorisation for the Creditor and the Debtor PSP given by the Debtor for the debit of its account (1). Each customer authorises you, and their bank, to debit their account, and they may accept or refuse that authorisation. Keep the mandate together with any later modifications or cancellation, either yourself or through a third party acting for you (3).
Before sending the Collection to your provider, send the Debtor a pre-notification of the amount and due date, which must be sent at the latest 14 Calendar Days before the Due Date unless another timeline is agreed between the Debtor and the Creditor (1). The pre-notification may be sent together with or as part of other commercial documents (e.g. an invoice) or separately (1).
Then send collection data to your provider from 14 calendar days before the Due Date, unless a different start is defined in a bilateral agreement between you and your provider in line with the Scheme time cycle, and no later than D-1 Inter-PSP Business Day (1). Include the mandate-related information for new or amended mandates with each collection.
Regulation (EU) 260/2012 applies to euro direct debits where both payment service providers are located in the Union, or where the sole payment service provider involved is located in the Union (3).
Recurrent direct debits are those where the authorisation by the Debtor is used for regular direct debits initiated by the Creditor (1).
With Rebeam, you prepare payment instructions through an API connection or a batch file, according to your agreed setup and collection schedule (2).
Direct Debit Mandate Steps and the Rules They Rest On
Step | Rule it rests on | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
Obtain a mandate from each customer | The mandate is the debtor's authorisation for the creditor and the debtor's bank, and the debtor has full discretion to accept or refuse it. | Confirm the mandate and any later modification or cancellation is stored by you or by a third party on your behalf. |
Submit collection data with mandate information | Send collection data from 14 calendar days before the Due Date, unless a bilateral agreement with your provider defines another start in line with the Scheme time cycle, and at the latest D-1 Inter-PSP Business Day. | Check that the Pre-notification has been sent in time, that the mandate-related information for new or amended mandates is included in all collections, and that you know your provider's cut-off time. |
One set of rules across the eurozone
The rules of a payment scheme used for direct debits must be the same for national and cross-border direct debit transactions within the Union (3).
A payee using a direct debit to collect funds from a payer holding a payment account located within the Union may not specify the Member State in which that payment account is to be located, provided that the payment account is reachable in accordance with Article 3 (3). The Core scheme is applicable in the countries listed in the EPC List of SEPA Scheme Countries (1). The Mandate must be governed by the law of a SEPA country (1).
Rebeam notes that SEPA Direct Debit Core also supports authorised one-off collections, alongside recurring subscriptions, memberships and instalments (2).
Timing after submission, and the refund windows
If a collection is presented late, your provider may replace the outdated Due Date with a new one, but only by agreement with you; otherwise the file must be rejected (1). If the Due Date falls on a day that is not an Inter-PSP Business Day, settlement moves to the next one. If the settlement date is not a Banking Business Day for the debtor's bank, the debit happens on the next Banking Business Day (1).
If the debtor's bank cannot debit on the Due Date, it may debit later, but it must still carry out any Return so that Returns settle on D+5 Inter-PSP Business Days at the latest (1).
The debtor may instruct a refusal up to and including the Due Date, and the precise time limit is agreed between the debtor and their bank (1). A debtor can request a refund of an authorised collection within eight weeks of the debit, and of an unauthorised collection within thirteen months.
Track payment status for every collection: Rebeam's payment-status reporting helps your team identify collections that need attention (2).
Sources
- 2025 SEPA Direct Debit Core Scheme Rulebook 2025 Version 1.2, European Payments Council, 30 September 2026
- www.rebeam.pro
- REGULATION (EU) No 260/2012 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009, Official Journal of the European Union, 14 March 2012