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SEPA

Joining the Single Euro Payments Area ( SEPA) orients the San Marino banking system toward the internationalization process, which at the same time allows households, businesses and public administration to take advantage of more efficient payment services aligned with European standards.

1. The strategic value of joining SEPA.

Accession to SEPA represents recognition at the European level of the progress made by the Republic of San Marino in the regulatory field and the professionalism of the San Marino interlocutors involved in the accession process.
The potentialities offered by SEPA standards, connected with the management of a single payment account for the execution of transfers and debits on a pan-European scale, outline a new scenario and consolidate the prospect of integration of the San Marino banking and financial system in the European capital market.
Reduced and certain times for the execution of credit transfers, lowering of costs for cross-border transfers, possibility of using the account opened at the San Marino bank to make debits requested by European invoicers wherever located, efficient management of payments for San Marino companies that invoice customers residing in the other SEPA countries outline a scenario in which San Marino - like the other countries adhering to the European Union and the European Economic Area - participates since its inception.

2. The SEPA payment instruments
2.1 The SEPACreditTransfer.

As of February 1, 2014, the SEPA Credit Transfer is used to make payments to and from the SEPA area. It has a set execution time of 1 business day.
The SEPA Credit Transfer is a harmonized instrument at the European level and is a basic service to which different intermediaries can add additional functionality.

In order to make the conditions applied to customers explicit and transparent, the fees applied by intermediaries cannot be deducted from the amount of the credit transfer but must be charged separately: the amount of the credit transfer is therefore credited in full without any deduction by the intermediaries executing the transaction.

The SEPA credit transfer uses the IBAN(International Bank Account Number) coordinate, which allows a customer's account with a financial institution to be uniquely identified; moreover, it has already been in use in San Marino for several years.

To order a SEPA transfer, the ordering customer must notify his bank of the beneficiary's IBAN and BIC codes. Some banks, to make the transaction even easier, do not ask for the indication of the BIC but take charge of its calculation. Knowing one's IBAN is extremely simple: this code is always indicated on the bank statement and in any case can be requested at any time from one's bank.
The IBAN ensures that transactions are carried out in a fully automated way, and for this reason the utmost care is required in indicating this code, which has prevailing importance over the possible indication of other information (for example, the beneficiary's personal data).

2.2 The SEPADirect Debit

SEPA Direct Debits are instruments that allow a creditor to arrange through its bank to debit the account of a debtor (at the same bank or at a different bank), on the basis of a mandate signed in advance by the debtor customer with respect to the initiation of transactions and issued to the creditor itself. The SEPADirect Debit mandate can cover single or serial transactions. TheEuropean Payments Council has provided two separate Direct Debit Schemes, a "CORE" one designed for the relationship between creditor business and consumer payer, although it can also be used by business payers, and a specific one for the typical needs of business-to-business (B2B) relationships.

2.2.1 The Mandate in SEPADirect Debit Schemes.

This is the contract by which the debtor provides two separate authorizations:

  • it authorizes the creditor to arrange one or a series of debits against its account;

  • authorizes its bank to debit the account according to instructions received through the creditor.

The SEPA Mandate never includes the amount of the transaction, either for the authorization referring to a single transaction or for a series of continuous transactions. The basic information contained in the SEPA Mandate is:

  • the IBAN code of the current account to be debited;

  • the BIC code of the bank where the account is held;

  • the name of the subscribing debtor;

  • the creditor's identification code;

  • the name of the creditor and other supplementary information.

In the SEPADirect DebitSchemes, the warrant signed by the debtor must always be issued to the creditor, who is responsible for retaining it as proof of the consent given by the debtor to the transactions, in case of any dispute.
The Schemes also stipulate that cancellation of the mandate, or any change to its elements, such as a change in the debit account, must be agreed upon between creditor and debtor.
TheDirect Debit CORE Scheme provides greater protection in favor of the debtor, represented by the right to repayment even for authorized transactions, exercisable within 8 weeks from the date of the debit.
Banks are not required to ask for the reasons for the debtor's request for repayment, only to execute it. In other words, even if the debtor has signed the authorization mandate, in the event of an incorrect debited amount, he or she can exercise the right of repayment, while still assuming the responsibility.