Product

SEPA direct debit:
the solution for scheduling your payments

The SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) direct debit, also known as SDD, is a method used for making secure recurring and one-off payments. Beyond a simple direct debit, it takes you further in mastering your payments.

Recurring direct debit to reduce the work of your finance department

Directly pay your clients or employees via instant transfer in your business software.

Getting paid: the daily challenge for businesses

Often used for its simplicity, card payments also have their limitations:

Card limit blocking payments above a certain amount.
Card expiration date ending recurring subscription payments.
Strong authentication tying the payment to the cardholder only.

Bank transfers avoid the constraints of expiration dates and allow higher amounts, but the customer initiates them…

Impact on customer satisfaction

Payment failures are still frequent and invoice recovery times are increasing.

Beyond the impact on cash flow, customer satisfaction rates can also suffer, with unpaid invoices potentially causing misunderstandings or disputes.

The SDD solution: creditor-initiated payments

SEPA direct debit allows a creditor, either a legal or natural person awaiting payment of an invoice, to debit money from a debtor, whether a B2C or B2B client, directly from their bank account identified by their IBAN. It is used for:

Recurring payments: SDD is often used for services delivered by subscription, allowing the creditor to debit the debtor on predefined dates.
One-off payments: retailers or e-commerce merchants can offer one-off direct debits to their clients (B2B and B2C), an alternative to card payments on online sales sites.

Setting up SEPA direct debit in 5 steps

The creditor must:

Have the debtor sign a SEPA direct debit mandate.

Once signed, the mandate

has no expiry period.
Present the debit instruction

to the counterparty bank (customer’s bank)

at least 24 hours before the execution date.
Provide an annual schedule

to their customer

with the debit dates.

The debtor must:

Complete the information

on the electronic SEPA mandate

sent by the creditor.
Electronically sign

the direct debit mandate.

SDD by Xpollens: a new customer experience

Quick and smooth with the instant direct debit mandate and its electronic signature, discover how Xpollens’ SDD transforms the online customer purchase journey, whether the payment is one-off or recurring.

Real-time monitoring and automation for Finance teams

Once the direct debit mandate is set up with its customer, the company is instantly informed of the status of the debit:

Payment made
Debit failure

Thanks to the business rules in place (e.g., automated SMS reminders), the company can:

Inform their customer, regardless of the transaction status.
Re-present the payment in case of failure, either through a new direct debit with a new schedule or other payment methods better suited to the debtor, such as a bank transfer.

The 3 benefits of SDD by Xpollens

Alongside Instant Payment and Virtual IBANs, direct debit (SDD) optimises company payments and accounts. Combined with our Banking-as-a-Service platform, this reliable payment method offers high-value-added benefits:

Revenue Security

Scheduled debits.
Irrevocable payments.
Real-time automated reminders.
Savings

Optimising reconciliation and recovery

saves Finance teams’ time

and the company’s money.
Customer Satisfaction

Reducing disputes

and attrition rates (churn).

Integrating SEPA Direct Debit into your existing tools

Our Banking-as-a-Service platform technology allows you to use our API to connect your existing tools and processes with our payins and payouts solutions, such as SDD.

You do not need to change your bank, CRM, ERP, or CMS, nor add new applications to your information system.

Automatic direct debits and optimised customer journey

AUTODOC is one of Europe’s leading online automotive parts sellers. Their challenge: offering alternatives to card payments, which are too restrictive due to strong authentication.

The Xpollens Solution:

One-click debits to simplify purchases for garage customers once the direct debit mandate is signed.
Optimised customer journey for a better conversion rate during payment.
Greater autonomy: each buyer can pay for the order themselves.
A higher payment limit than a card payment (up to €100,000).
Direct integration of the solution into the merchant site, tools, and existing processes without changing bank, CRM, ERP, or CMS.