What is a SEPA Direct Debit?
In the SEPA direct debit process, one party withdraws funds from another party's bank account. Both parties can either be legal persons or a company. In order to do so, the payee needs a signed SEPA mandate from the payer. Direct debits are especially used for recurring payments and significantly cheaper than working with payment service providers.
In Germany, payees require a creditor ID in order to execute direct debits. The creditor ID is issued by the German Bundesbank on request.
The SEPA direct debit procedure is very simple thanks to the standardization within the SEPA areas
Accelerate your SEPA debit transfer with SEPA-Transfer
Using SEPA-Transfer, you can speed up the payment process significantly - especially if the SEPA debit transfer process is a recurring task!
To create a SEPA direct debit, you need a valid SEPA mandate. Here, our SEPA-Transfer solution provides you with preformatted templates. You can simply print these with the deposited data and assign a reference number (which can be similar to the contract number for example) to the ready-to-send SEPA mandate. For recurring payments and subscriptions, the reference numbers can be imported very easily. The payer, e.g. your customer or club member, only has to sign the SEPA mandate on paper. Mind that the bank won't check the accuracy of the SEPA direct debit itself.
Next, after importing the payment data from various file types like Excel, XML or CSV the direct debit can be comfortably initiated with our solution. Doing so, SEPA-Transfer automatically calculates a valid execution date, taking into account the prescribed lead time. Finally, repeat the process next time it is needed with just one click - even for multiple bank transactions on a specific date (e.g. for salaries).
Where does it come in handy?
Easy canteen billing process
Recurring payment tasks should not take too much time - especially for intern processes. While the pilot stage, we wrote every single bill for our canteen process by hand. That's why we simplified the billing process for our canteen with the help of SEPA-Transfer.
Convert Excel files to SEPA XML
Often enough, organizations manage their payment data in large Excel files, separating the names, IBAN numbers and amounts in different columns. To initiate a SEPA direct debit, you will need to send the data to your bank. But the bank needs the payment data in SEPA XML format. Whether .xlsx or .csv, you will need to convert your Excel file to the SEPA XML file first.
With SEPA-Transfer you can easily convert Excel files to SEPA XML. Here is how:
Save time using the command line parameters
Do you need to convert payment files into another format? With SEPA-Transfer Enterprise Edition you can profit from full command line control with CMD and PowerShell syntax. Automate billing processes e.g. by including command line parameters into your own programs or scripts.
What else is possible with SEPA-Transfer?
With SEPA-Transfer we offer a broad variety of different importing and exporting options for your SEPA direct debit process.
Want to Give SEPA-Transfer a try?
We are convinced that you should try out our solution before you make the decision to buy. Get to know the 30 days trial of SEPA-Transfer.

SEPA-Transfer Small Business Edition
