Summary
You can collect euro invoices by SEPA Direct Debit from customers anywhere in the SEPA area, including from a UK or US business, by connecting Stripe and putting a pay link on each invoice. Stripe collects on the SEPA Core scheme, so the customer can ask their bank for a refund within eight weeks of any debit.
- Which scheme: Stripe supports SEPA Direct Debit Core, which works for business and personal bank accounts, and not the B2B scheme.
- How long it takes: Stripe says to wait at least 6 business days before treating a SEPA Direct Debit payment as successful.
- The refund right: Under the Core rulebook a payer can get a no-questions-asked refund within eight weeks, and up to 13 months for an unauthorised debit.
Your customer in the Netherlands opens your euro invoice and pays it by SEPA Direct Debit. Three days later the invoice still shows as unpaid, so your bookkeeper sends a reminder, and the customer pays again by bank transfer to be safe.
We have seen this pattern with bank debits in every scheme: the customer pays twice because the first payment was still pending. Here is how SEPA Direct Debit works for a business that invoices in euros, which scheme you can collect on, how to time it, and what the refund right does to your cash.
Paidnice is accounts receivable automation for businesses on Xero and QuickBooks Online. It offers direct debit for invoices in six bank schemes through Stripe, including SEPA for customers who pay in euros.
Free: Payment reminder email templatesCopy the reminder emails for before, on and after the due date.What SEPA Direct Debit is, for a business invoicing in euros
SEPA Direct Debit lets a business pull a euro payment from a customer's bank account anywhere in the Single Euro Payments Area, once the customer has signed a mandate. The customer gives their IBAN, not a local account number and sort code.
The European Payments Council lists 41 SEPA scheme countries: the 27 EU member states, 3 more in the European Economic Area, and 11 others, including the United Kingdom and Switzerland (EPC list of SEPA scheme countries). Stripe lets UK businesses accept SEPA Direct Debit, and the payment is in euros.
Core or B2B: which SEPA scheme you can collect on
There are two SEPA Direct Debit schemes, and the difference is the payer's right to a refund. Stripe states that it "currently supports the SEPA Direct Debit Core scheme and not the SEPA Direct Debit B2B scheme" (Stripe SEPA docs).
| SEPA Core | SEPA B2B | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can pay | Businesses and consumers | Businesses only; "the payer must not be a private individual" |
| Refund of an authorised debit | No questions asked within eight weeks | No refund right |
| Unauthorised debit | Claim within 13 months | The payer's bank checks the mandate before paying |
| Through Stripe | Yes | No |
The B2B rules come from the EPC's guide to SEPA Direct Debit. In practice, a small business invoicing other businesses collects on Core, and the business customer has the same refund right a consumer has.
How to collect an invoice by SEPA Direct Debit
- Connect Stripe to Paidnice and turn on SEPA Direct Debit in your Stripe payment methods.
- Raise the invoice in euros in Xero or QuickBooks. Paidnice chases each invoice in its own currency and adds a pay link to every reminder and statement.
- The customer opens the link and lands on their customer payment portal, where they tick one invoice, several, or the whole balance.
- They choose bank debit, enter their name and IBAN, and accept the mandate. Stripe generates the mandate text.
- The payment shows as pending until Stripe confirms it, then Paidnice records it against each invoice in the ledger.
Set the due date around SEPA timing
Three timings matter for an invoice. The Core rulebook says a collection must reach the payer's bank "at least 1 Inter-PSP Business Day (D-1)" before the due date, "irrespective of whether the Collection is presented as an one-off or a recurrent Collection" (EPC SDD Core Rulebook 2025).
Older guides that quote five days for a first debit are out of date.
The rulebook also says the pre-notification must reach the payer 14 calendar days before the due date "unless another time-line is agreed". Stripe's mandate allows notice up to two calendar days in advance, which the customer agrees to when they sign.
Then there is confirmation. Stripe says to "wait at least 6 business days before considering a SEPA Direct Debit payment as successful".
If your terms are 30 days, a customer who pays on day 28 is confirmed after the due date, so do not set an overdue reminder for the day after the due date on a debit that is still pending.
The eight-week refund right and what it does to your cash
Under Core, Stripe confirms that a customer can dispute a debit "on a 'no questions asked' basis up to eight weeks after their account is debited", and after that up to 13 months only if the debit was unauthorised. You cannot win a no-questions-asked refund by showing that the invoice was valid.
For an invoicing business this means a SEPA payment is final in practice only after eight weeks. Three things follow:
- Do not treat a large SEPA payment as settled for credit purposes, such as releasing more stock on account, until the customer has a track record.
- Keep the mandate, the invoice and the pre-notification. They are your evidence if a refund is claimed as unauthorised.
- If a refund comes back, the invoice is unpaid again. Talk to the customer before anything else goes out.
When a SEPA debit fails
A SEPA debit fails before settlement when the account has insufficient funds, is closed, or does not accept direct debits. It can also come back after settlement as a refund. Stripe charges a fee for each failed payment and each dispute.
In Paidnice, the failed debit shows on the Payments page and the invoice is frozen, so no reminder or automatic late fee goes out while you sort it out. When the cause is fixed, unfreeze the invoice and the reminders carry on. For the steps by failure reason, see what to do when a direct debit fails.
What SEPA Direct Debit costs
Stripe's fees depend on where your Stripe account is. For a UK account, Stripe lists £0.30 per SEPA Direct Debit payment, £3.00 for a failed payment and £13.00 for a disputed payment (Stripe UK pricing). Check your own country's pricing page.
Paidnice adds no fee to a direct debit on any plan. You can pass a processing fee on to the customer, set separately for direct debit and for card.
How Paidnice handles SEPA Direct Debit
- Euro invoices chased in euros: reminders, statements and late fees use the invoice currency, and multi-currency is on every plan.
- Pending is visible: the Payments page shows each pending bank debit, so your team can see a payment is on its way before anyone sends a reminder.
- A failed debit freezes the invoice until you fix it. There is no automatic late fee on a failed debit; charge one manually if your terms allow.
- Each payment in your ledger: Paidnice records the payment against the invoice in Xero or QuickBooks with the Stripe fee.
💡 Paidnice insight
The six business days a SEPA debit takes to confirm is long enough for a customer to pay twice. When a debit is pending close to the due date, freeze that invoice until the debit confirms, so the next reminder does not go out on top of it.
For customers in the UK who pay in pounds, use Bacs Direct Debit instead. For US customers, see how to accept ACH payments.
Frequently asked questions
Can a UK business collect SEPA Direct Debit?
Yes. The UK is a SEPA scheme country, and Stripe lets UK businesses accept SEPA Direct Debit in euros from customers across the SEPA area.
What is a SEPA Direct Debit mandate?
It is the customer's authorisation for you to debit their account, with their name and IBAN. Through Stripe, the customer accepts the mandate when they pay, and Stripe generates its text.
Can a business customer reverse a SEPA Direct Debit?
Yes, on the Core scheme. Any payer can ask for a refund within eight weeks of the debit with no reason given. Only the B2B scheme removes that right, and Stripe does not support B2B.
Is SEPA Direct Debit the same as a SEPA transfer?
No. A SEPA credit transfer is pushed by the payer. A SEPA Direct Debit is pulled by the business under a mandate, and the refund rules apply to it.
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About the editorial team
Ashley is a co-founder and lead developer of Paidnice and has built accounting software for more than 10 years. He builds the ledger connections that put reminders, late fees and payments into Xero, QuickBooks and ERPs such as NetSuite and Business Central. Before Paidnice he co-founded A2X, ecommerce accounting software for Xero and QuickBooks.
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