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How to set up Direct Debit transactions via SEPA payment?

Updated

Introduction 

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a payment-integration initiative of the European Union for simplification of bank transfers denominated in euro. As of 2020, there were 36 members in SEPA, consisting of the 27 member states of the European Union, the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), and the United Kingdom. 

The aim of SEPA is to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments and turn the previously fragmented national markets for Euro payments into a single domestic one. SEPA enables to make cashless Euro payments to any account located anywhere in the area, using a single bank account and a single set of payment instruments. 

Instruction 

1. To set up Direct Debit transfer via SEPA, you need to provide the Perfect Gym Implementation Team with the following information:

  • IBAN - number of the bank account
  • BIC - bank identifier code
  • Company Name - the company name registered in the bank
  • CdtrSchmeId (Identifier of the Creditor): digits and letters, beginning with 2-letter country code  

2. If you have already used SEPA with the previous system, provide as well the file, which is sent to the bank to generate payments from. 

3. The payment is generated manually, as in other Direct Debit transactions, which is according to this instruction.

SEPA file format and structured address

By default, PerfectGym generates the SEPA direct debit file in the pain.008.001.02 format. SEPA requirements call for the pain.008.001.08 format and a structured address in all payment messages (street, house number, postal code, city and country as separate fields) instead of an unstructured one. The pain.008.001.08 format is not switched on automatically: to use it, you need to enable two settings in the system settings.

The file format your bank accepts depends on the bank. Check with your bank which format it requires and enable the settings when it requires the pain.008.001.08 format.

To enable them:

  1. Go to PGM → Settings → System settings.
  2. Select EPayment, then Billing generation for Direct Debit.
  3. In the Direct Debit file generation section, select the checkboxes:
    • Use pain008_version8 for SEPA files: generates the file in the pain.008.001.08 format. 
    • Use structured addresses in version 8 SEPA direct debit files: use it together with the setting above. The file is generated in the pain.008.001.08 format with a structured address, which meets the SEPA address requirements.
  4. Click Save changes at the bottom of the screen.

If both checkboxes are cleared, the file is generated in the pain.008.001.02 format.

After enabling the settings, test the file before running a bill run for all members. Generate a direct debit file for a test member, upload it to your bank, and verify that it is accepted without errors. This helps prevent file rejections when processing payments for a large number of members and a higher total value.

Note: This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence and editorially reviewed.

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