IBAN & SEPA
SEPA Credit Transfer
A SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) is a payment instruction that moves euros from one bank account to another within the SEPA zone. It is a "push" payment — the payer initiates the transfer, and funds are credited to the beneficiary's account. SCTs are the most widely used instrument for non-urgent euro transfers across borders.
The payer submits a credit transfer instruction to their bank, specifying the beneficiary's IBAN, amount, and optionally a BIC. Under SEPA rules, the receiving bank must credit the beneficiary within one business day. There are no amount limits, and fees must not be deducted from the transferred amount (SHA cost model). The payment message follows the ISO 20022 XML standard.
SCTs replaced dozens of national credit transfer schemes with a single pan-European standard. For businesses, this means one format, one rulebook, and predictable settlement times for euro payments across 36 countries. Getting the beneficiary IBAN right is critical — an invalid IBAN will cause the transfer to be rejected by the sending bank before it even enters the clearing system.
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