What is SEPA and what is it for?

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It is possible that on more than one occasion, have you heard the word SEPA but instead you don't know precisely what it is about. It is natural, since this type of information, unfortunately, is not usually given out of nowhere to the clients of banking entities and it is truly incomprehensible because it is a very important factor. And this in fact can have a negative impact on the person in question because they cannot enjoy the benefit to its full capacity. For this reason and so that you have extensive information about it, in this article you will know what it is and what it is for.

Everything the persons disponen una o más cuentas bancarias. Esto sucede desde hace varias décadas gracias a las facilidades que implican cobrar de forma directa desde allí sin necesidad de poseer de dinero físico. Esto, a su vez, ayuda a disminuir los robos de persona a persona, aún cuando por lo visto puede suceder que el propio banco be atracado; en ese caso no perderás el dinero debido a que lo tienes garantizado.
This is undoubtedly one of the most positive aspects of the banks, since at least in that sense offers you a practically 100% guarantee.

Despite everything, there are other important aspects that they do not explain to their clients and this can have a negative impact on their interests, at the same time that depending on what actions you want to carry out, if you do not know what it is and the procedures to be carried out, you simply cannot continue with the operation.

One of the clearest examples of this phenomenon would be the term SEPA, Even though this service is active for everyone, not everyone knows what it is about.

What is SEPA?

Knowing what SEPA is, will be crucial for your interests because this way you will be able to know more exactly the benefits that your current bank offers you.

SEPA is the abbreviation for European Single Payment Zone or Single Euro Payment Zone in Spanish, and it is a proposal of the European Banking Industry of the European Council supported by the European Commission, the Governments and the Central Banks of the most important European countries.

In one word, SEPA comes to say that all those who are in the European zone regardless of whether they are natural persons, an entity or a company, can receive and make payments with precisely the same conditions without taking into account that those payments or transfers have required border processes between the different existing countries.

The SEPA zone is made up of the 27 countries of the European Union adding also countries such as Switzerland, Monaco, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (does not include Andorra), with which, even though they are not officially integrated into the EU, they have the same conditions.

Esta definición demuestra la relevance de conocer este aspecto de la banca debido a que, a priori, no vas a poder realizar ningún tipo de transacción o transferencia debido a que no conocerás todos los pasos mínimos para llevar a término la operación, dado que en otras más complejas aspectos es el propio banco quien realiza las gestiones oportunas evitando mayores quebraderos de cabeza al client.

How does the SEPA (Single Payment Zone in Euros) affect if you are a bank customer?

As you have seen previously, this proposal helps 32 countries that make up SEPA (27 countries of the European Union and 5 more countries added in the treaty), it helps that both payments and collections have the same conditions regardless of the country in question.

In turn, this facilitates that both national and international payments (countries that make up SEPA), are much easier to make, unlike that before this treaty everything was much more complex.

At the same time, thanks to this proposal, there are some advantages that there were not before when paying, and they are things like:

• You can have a single account to make payments

Thanks to this treaty, anyone can have a unique account make payments in euros between the SEPA countries, so there is more freedom of movement.

• Improvements are made in payment processes

Thanks to these improvements in the payment processes, users can select several methods that can facilitate the means of disbursement, such as by means of an electronic card, from a mobile device or obtaining an electronic invoice. In the past, the processes were much slower and, of course, there were not as many accessible payment methods.

Thanks to the SEPA zone, all member countries can enjoy greater security in their payments, avoiding any conflict that may arise; a very interesting fact to pay attention because, after all, there is a higher percentage of guarantees.

• Elimination of international payment barriers

Thanks to the treaty that exists between the member countries of SEPA, the barriers in international payments that existed are no longer in operation and there is practically almost absolute freedom.

• Affected payment items

In case you want to know how many payment items affected there are four:

• Current bank cards
• Direct debits are replacing the current direct debits in Spain
• Transfers that are replaced by current national transfers
• Current bank accounts have a new code called IBAN

Changes in payment instruments

Thanks to the SEPA agreement between the member countries, there are changes in the payment instruments and they are:

• Transfers: all bank transfers are made through the BIC or IBAN.
• Cards: one of the most interesting news about credit and debit cards is the built-in chip called EMV. Most Spanish companies already have this functionality to make the charges for another built-in chip called POS, which thanks to it payments are safer because they are not made with a signature but through the PIN of the card itself. fakes.
• Mandates: Mandates are the same as now; For an entity to issue a charge to a bank account, it must do so with the express authorization of the holder, with a different characteristic depending on the case. By way of example, for the entity to make the refund of the amount, it has 10 business days, 13 months for the incorrect rectification of an operation or 8 weeks to return the authorized receipts.

What is the IBAN and the BIC?

Taking into account that IBAN and BIC have a lot to do with the SEPA agreementWe are going to give you its definition so that, when you request it, you know what it is about at all times.

• WERE GOING: It is the identifier of all bank accounts, that is, when you make a transaction, they will know whose account it is thanks to this code and it is the 4 digits at the beginning of the bank account, in the case of Spain something equivalent to this: ES00.
• BIC: is the bank identifier for international transfers. Each bank has its own. For guidance, the code would look like this: INGDESHHUYYY.

Does SEPA really offer advantages?

Thanks to the agreement with SEPA, there are truly advantages, because previously international transactions, regardless of which country they were from, had higher costs and less security in transactions.

Now you can make transfers in France, Holland, Germany, United Kingdom ... without this posing a serious obstacle or so many expenses in the operation.

conclusion

To finish, we are going to make a brief summary so that all the concepts that you have learned in this article are not forgotten and you can receive money or make bank transfers without any problem.

What is SEPA?: it is a treaty that exists between all the countries of the European Union (27) and 5 other non-EU countries (Switzerland, Monaco, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein not including Andorra) to be able to make bank transfers and receive money with total freedom and security. Thanks to this, there have been different changes at the time of making transactions that practically favors the 100% of security because payments can be made with debit or credit cards through the POS code and there are also two more identifiers within one bank account, the BIC and the IBAN.

What is the BIC?: es un código que identifica al banco para transferencias nacionales y cada uno tiene el suyo. Para conocer el código de tu banco puedes preguntarlo de forma directa en la sucursal oa través de su portal Web.

What is the IBAN ?: This is an identifier that all bank accounts have at this time. It is a way of knowing which country the income or transfers come from. This new code is at the beginning of the bank account numbering. To understand which one is yours, you must check it yourself with your notebook or ask the bank directly.

Now that you know what SEPA is, take advantage of the benefits and have more financial freedom internationally.