International transfers are not always easy to understand.

Transcription

1 SEPA, Page 1 of 8 International transfers are not always easy to understand. We re here to help you. International payments.

2 SEPA, Page 2 of 8 The idea of a single European payments area. SEPA the concept. The introduction of the euro as a single currency is now followed by the creation of a uniform European payments system. These steps are intended to support economic growth and strengthen the European Union. The objective of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) is to standardise payment systems in Europe so that it functions as a uniform domestic payments system offering payment instruments capable of meeting future needs of the retail payments market in Europe at comparable conditions. In concrete terms this means that companies and consumers can settle their euro-denominated transactions within the SEPA area at uniform conditions as easily and as safely as at the domestic level. It therefore no longer makes any difference if you transfer funds within your own country or within Europe. THE SEPA countries: SEPA primarily comprises the euro area countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. But it also covers euro payments among the other EU countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Sweden), member states of the European Economic Area (EEA) such as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Switzerland, Monaco and San Marino.

3 SEPA, Page 3 of 8 SEPA: your benefits at a glance. Easy purchase of goods and services in the SEPA area. Uniform payment methods within Europe. Greater transparency: payment transactions in all SEPA countries are governed by clear, uniform settlement procedures with pre-determined processing times. Enhanced security for payment transactions: a unique and verifiable IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identifier Code) instead of an account number and bank routing code. From 1 February 2016 it suffices to state the IBAN. In the SEPA area the inclusion of the BIC does not affect execution of a SEPA payment. Uniform legal framework which in Austria has been translated into the Austrian Payment Services Act (Zahlungsdienstegesetz ZaDiG). Cross-border direct debits in the SEPA area with the possibility to request a refund within eight weeks. New standards. SEPA transfers and SEPA direct debits are governed by uniform payment regulations within participating SEPA countries. It does not make any difference whether the transaction takes place within Austria or between Austria and France, for example. SEPA transfer requirements for Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, St. Pierre and Miquelon. The SEPA conditions, but not the EU pricing regulation, apply to transfers to countries participating in the SEPA procedure which are not EU or EEA member states (these are currently Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, St. Pierre and Miquelon). This means that a SEPA transfer is charged on the basis of a foreign transfer and not as an EU cross-border payment. IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identifier Code). You require your own IBAN and the IBAN of the payee for executing your payments. The IBAN is an international standard for identifying bank accounts and contains the country code, check digits, bank routing code and account number. The BIC, often also known as the SWIFT code, is the identification code used by a bank in its international operations. Your personal IBAN and the BIC are included on your account statements and in the financial status in OnlineBanking, in the header of the relevant account, and on your bank card. You can find the IBAN of the payee and the BIC of the payee s bank on invoices or you can obtain them from the payee directly. Persons transferring money to your account need your IBAN. The BIC is only required for transfers outside the SEPA area. How you save money with EU cross-border payments. Quickly easily low-cost: with SEPA, the single euro payments area, and the EU cross-border payment procedure, the prices you pay for incoming and outgoing euro transfers within the EU and EEA countries are the same as for domestic payments. Such transactions are subject to the following criteria: Transfer currency: euro. No limit on the amount of transfers. The IBAN (International Bank Account Number) must be stated. The provision of the payee s BIC (Bank Identifier Code) does not affect processing of the payment order. The transfer must be a cross-border payment within the EU member states 1) and the EEA member states. No specific instructions (e.g. advice, urgent ). Split bank charges: the domestic charges are always to be paid by the payer and the foreign charges by the beneficiary. Instructions that deviate from this procedure cannot be carried out. 1) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

4 SEPA, Page 4 of 8 SEPA payment products. The SEPA transfer (SEPA credit transfer). SEPA transfers (SEPA credit transfers) can be used throughout the SEPA area for domestic and cross-border non-cash payments since 28 January The uniform standards apply to all euro-denominated transfers within the SEPA area, regardless of the amount involved. Key features of a SEPA transfer: Account details are to be provided in the form of the IBAN without exception (data of the payee and of the originator). The BIC is not required for cross-border payments within the SEPA area from 1 February The original amount is forwarded for credit to the beneficiary without deductions; charges, if any, are debited separately. The payer and beneficiary bear their own costs in line with the current procedure for EU cross-border payments. Guaranteed execution period of no more than one bank business day (a maximum two bank business days in the case of paper-based transfer orders) until the payee s account is credited with the funds. Depending on the recipient country of an order, a SEPA transfer is charged as an EU cross-border payment or as a foreign transfer (in each case to the customer s advantage). The EU cross-border payment applies to payments within the EU and the EEA which are denominated in euro; since 1 April 2012 these are not limited to any specific amount. The SEPA direct debit (SEPA Direct Debit Core). Following its translation into national law on 1 November 2009, the Europe-wide Payment Services Directive represents a novel approach to cross-border payments in Europe given the previous absence of a standardised procedure. The debtor authorises the creditor to debit his/her account (SEPA mandate). Key features of a SEPA direct debit: Direct debits can only be made in respect of funds denominated in euro. Account details are to be provided in the form of the IBAN without exception (data of the payee and of the originator). The accounts must be denominated in euro. Every creditor needs a uniform, unique and standardised creditor ID (creditor identification), which he/she requests from his/her own bank and which is issued by Austria s central bank (OeNB) in Austria. A SEPA direct debit needs to be supported by a SEPA mandate. The creditor is required to inform the debtor in a timely manner of the debit of funds and the time when the debit will take place, e.g. invoice stating the due date of payment. The due date of the SEPA direct debit, specified by the creditor when presenting the instructions for collection and agreed with the debtor, is also the date on which the debtor s account is debited. The debtor may reverse a SEPA direct debit within a period of eight weeks from the day on which his/her account was debited with the relevant amount. In the absence of a SEPA direct debit mandate, a direct debit transaction may be reversed within a period of 13 months. The accounting entry on the account statement reads SEPA-Lastschrift. The debtor need not conclude a new agreement for direct debits and pre-authorised payments. The bank of the creditor and the bank of the debtor are required to participate in the SEPA direct debit procedure (SEPA Direct Debit Core).

5 SEPA, Page 5 of 8 The SEPA direct debit mandate. A SEPA direct debit can be collected only if it is supported by a valid SEPA mandate issued by the debtor. Pre-authorised payments that are already in place in Austria can be converted into SEPA direct debit mandates if the creditor so wishes. The creditor must inform the debtor of this change in writing. The creditor is required to keep the SEPA mandate and present it upon request. The SEPA mandate can be revoked by the debtor vis-à-vis the creditor. The content, but not the form of the SEPA mandate is defined. The legally relevant text of the SEPA direct debit mandate should read as follows: I/we authorise [name of creditor] to collect payments from my/our account via the SEPA direct debit procedure. I/we at the same time instruct my/our bank to honour the SEPA direct debits drawn on my/our account by [name of creditor]. I/we can, within a period of eight weeks which commences on the day on which the amount was debited, request the refund of the amount debited. The conditions agreed with my/our bank shall apply to this procedure. In addition, a SEPA mandate must contain the following information: Name, address and creditor ID (CID) of the payee. Name and account details in the form of the IBAN and the signature of the account holder or debtor. Place and date of mandate issuance. The mandate reference issued by the payee: clearly defines the SEPA mandate in combination with the creditor ID, has a length of up to 35 alphanumeric characters, may be included in the SEPA mandate or notified to the debtor at a later time. The description SEPA direct debit mandate or SEPA B2B direct debit mandate.

6 SEPA, Page 6 of 8 Overview of European countries. European countries ISO code Length of IBAN Local currency Member of EU EEA EFTA EU cross-border payment Possible product Albania AL ALL Andorra AD 24 EUR Standard foreign transfer Austria AT 20 EUR Belarus BY RUR Belgium BE 16 EUR Bosnia-Herzegovina BA 20 BAM Bulgaria BG 22 BGN Croatia HR 21 HRK Cyprus CY 28 EUR Czech Republic CZ 24 CZK Denmark DK 18 DKK Estonia EE 20 EUR Finland FI 18 EUR France (incl. French-Guiana (GF), Guadeloupe (GP), Martinique (MQ), Mayotte (YT), Réunion FR 27 EUR (RE), Saint-Barthélemy (BL), St. Martin (French side, MF) Germany DE 22 EUR Gibraltar GI 23 GIP Great Britain GB 22 GBP Greece GR 27 EUR Hungary HU 28 HUF Iceland IS 26 ISK Ireland IE 22 EUR Italy IT 27 EUR Latvia LV 21 EUR Liechtenstein LI CHF Lithuania LT 21 EUR Luxembourg LU 20 EUR Macedonia MK MKD Malta MT 31 EUR Moldavia MD MDL Monaco MC 27 EUR Montenegro ME EUR Netherlands NL 18 EUR Norway NO 15 NOK Poland PL 28 PLN Portugal PT 25 EUR Romania RO 24 ROL Russia RU RUR San Marino SM 27 EUR Serbia RS 22 RSD Sweden SE 24 SEK Switzerland CH 21 CHF Slovakia SK 24 EUR Slovenia SI 19 EUR Spain (incl. Canary Islands, ES 24 EUR Ceuta and Melilla) Turkey TR 26 TRY Ukraine UA UAH Vatican VA EUR Note: The following non-european countries have issued an IBAN: Tunisia (IBAN has 24 characters), St. Pierre and Miquelon (IBAN has 27 characters) and Morocco (IBAN has 24 characters). But EU cross-border payments are not possible. Countries using the euro as their currency are highlighted in grey. SEPA

7 SEPA, Page 7 of 8 Timeline for SEPA transactions. 28 January 2008: SEPA transfers (SEPA credit transfer) are offered since 28 January November 2009: Most banks offer SEPA direct debits since 1 November The Payment Services Directive is translated into national law through the Austrian Payment Services Act (Zahlungsdienstegesetz ZaDiG) and comes into force. 1 November 2010: Banks in euro area countries which also support national direct debit procedures are required to offer SEPA direct debits. 2014: Transfers and direct debits are executed only with the IBAN and BIC, which replace the account number and bank routing code. This makes SEPA the unique, uniform payments system in the SEPA countries. 1 February 2016: Only the IBAN is required for transfers within the SEPA area. Any BIC that is included in the information will not affect the execution of a transaction. 1 November 2016: Banks in EU countries outside the euro area which also support national direct debit procedures are required to offer SEPA direct debits.

8 SEPA, Page 8 of 8 Branches About 235 locations throughout Austria filialfinder.bankaustria.at SmartBanking Personal advice: Monday to Friday, 8.00 am to 8.00 pm Telephone 24h ServiceLine: or *bank (= *2265) SmartBanking ServiceLine: Internet info@unicreditgroup.at smartbanking@unicreditgroup.at This marketing information was produced by UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Schottengasse 6 8, 1010 Vienna. Errors and misprints excepted. November /ST