SEPA Direct Debit - BETA

* Support for increasing the maximum transaction amount is available on a case by case basis upon risk approval.

Airwallex has built a range of client-side integration methods that allow you to manage your UI, minimize your implementation effort, and allow you to get to market quickly.

SEPA provides delayed notifications, which means transactions cannot be confirmed immediately.

When you initiate a payment with an active authorization, a 6-business-day period is required to confirm the payment's status. If a payment is successful, we will confirm and settle within the same day at T+6.

• Please note that payments should be initiated before 15:00 CET/CEST. Payments initiated at or after 15:00 CET/CEST will be processed the next business day.

After payment is successful, there's still a possibility of bank rejection or dispute by payers. Both are considered disputes.

• Bank rejection: this typically occurs within the first six days. However, in rare instances, a successful debit payment can be reversed, for up to 14 business days, subject to the decision of the banks involved.
• Dispute by payers: payers have up to 8 weeks (or 56 calendar days) to reject the payment without providing a reason.

The following diagram describes the timing of SEPA payment.

In accordance with the SEPA scheme rules, you MUST be authorized by the owner of a bank account before processing SEPA debits from that bank account.

It is suggested that you display the Direct Debit mandate terms below for your customer on the checkout form. Only upon your customer’s authorization will you be able to initiate debits from your customer’s bank account.

A Direct Debit will only be set up if you are an authorized signatory on this account. By clicking "Confirm", you are confirming that you are authorized to set up a Direct Debit on this account and you understand that Airwallex will be collecting Direct Debits on behalf of {merchant’s name}. Airwallex will appear on the statements of this account following each Direct Debit payment.

Airwallex will send Direct Debit confirmation email to your customers automatically when the mandate is successfully setup in the SEPA scheme with mandate as attachment. See a sample as below::

If you want to customise the email, contact our support team to add your corporate logo on this email. You can also turn off Airwallex confirmation email and send your own copy. You should provide the customer a confirmation for the mandate setup, either via email or as a downloadable copy on your website.

You should include wording advising of the content and purpose of this email and wording advising the recipient should check all the details and to contact support using a provided contact method if anything is incorrect. You should also include below information in your email:

Airwallex offers TrueLayer and micro-deposit services to help you verify the bank accounts. TrueLayer is an open banking solution that helps you verify the banks account instantly and securely. It's recommended that you enable both options during configuration.

For micro-deposit verification, Airwallex will send 2 micro deposits to the owner’s bank account and an email with the verification link to the shopper. The 2 micro deposits may take up to 2 days to arrive. After the shopper receives the micro deposits, they can enter the 2 amounts on verification link to get the account verified. Click here to learn more about micro-deposit verification.

For SEPA, the chargeback process gives significant consumer rights to the shopper. They have:

• Eight weeks to dispute a SEPA payment without providing a reason.
• Thirteen months to dispute an unauthorized or incorrect SEPA payment when they provide evidence to their bank.

SEPA Direct Debit disputes are final and can’t be appealed. If a customer successfully disputes a payment, you must contact shoppers if they want to resolve the situation by initiating a new payment.

Risk of double-crediting with refunds and disputes

Please note the risk of double crediting with refunds and disputes. If you proactively issue your shopper a refund while their bank also initiates the dispute process, they may receive two credits for the same transaction.