How SEPA direct debit works
A pre-notification must be sent at least 14 calendar days before the due date of the direct debit. This delay can be reduced but the pre-notification must precede the exchange between the banks of the direct debit orders, i.e.:
- 1 bank business day before the due date.Applies both to one-off SEPA direct debit (OOFF) and to a recurring SEPA direct debit (Recurring RCUR or Final FNAL)A bank working day is a day that is not Saturday, Sunday or public holiday (according to the TARGET 2 calendar published by the CFONB).If the pre-notification delay is 1 bank business day before the due date, the capture delay of SEPA direct debit orders by the merchant/creditor must take into account the delay for processing the SEPA direct debit by the creditor’s bank (i.e. 1 extra business day).
The pre-notification delay can only be changed upon request. Contact your customer advisorSociété Générale.
All in all, in the Merchant Back Office, the merchant must:
- Pre-notify his or her buyer 2 to 14 days before the due date.
- Submit his or her payment forms 2 business days before the due date of the SEPA direct debit, otherwise the due date will be recalculated by the bank.
Example of SEPA direct debit submitted in December:
With its public holidays, December is the perfect month for illustrating the delays for collecting a SEPA direct debit.
A SEPA direct debit on January 1st (due date) must be presented to the debtor’s bank:
- On December 18th at the earliest, that is 14 calendar days before the due date.
- On December 31st at the latest, that is 1 bank business day before the due date for a direct debit captured by the merchant at the bank on December 30.
- On December 31st at the latest, that is 1 bank business day before the due date for a recurring direct debit captured by the merchant at the bank on December 30.
January 1st is a holiday. This due date does not correspond to a bank business day. The SEPA direct debit order will be executed on the following bank business day.
Additional information on SEPA Direct Debit
This chapter provides additional information on the variables influencing the payment presentation date when it comes to SEPA Direct Debit.
When creating a SEPA Direct Debit transaction, several elements can have an effect on the date of payment presentation:
- The creation date of the transaction.
- The due date requested by the Merchant in the recurring payment definition.
- The pre-notification delay, specified in the agreement.
- The capture delay, configured in the shop.
- The delay of presentation at the bank, set to 1 bank business day for all SEPA direct debits (as of 20 November 2016).
If the due date requested by the merchant does not respect the delays, the payment gateway will shift this date by as many days as necessary.
If the merchant does not provide a due date, the gateway will calculate the earliest possible date, in accordance with the rules. The calculated date will be returned in the responses to transaction creation (file, web service response, etc.)
The pre-notification delay is the minimum number of days that must pass between the moment the pre-notification e-mail is sent to the client and the moment when the funds are transferred. This delay can be redefined but it is incompressible: the delay before the desired fund transfer date will remain the same.
The capture delay is the minimum number of days that must pass between the moment the transaction is created and the moment when the funds are transferred. In the case of SEPA payment, it does not have any influence if it is shorter than the pre-notification delay (see the case of the diagram above). If it is greater than this delay, it will shift the fund transfer date and add the delay between creating the transaction and sending the pre-notification e-mail:
In the following examples, the capture delay is set to zero (default value).
- Calculation of the minimum fund transfer date
- If the pre-notification delay is shorter than or equal to 2 days:
Minimum fund transfer date = Date of transaction creation + Delay for sending the capture file (the following night) + Presentation delay (set to 1 day)
Either a fund transfer date set to minimum 2 days after the transaction creation (first bank business day starting from the calculated minimum presentation date).
- If the the delay for pre-notification is greater than 2 days
Minimum fund transfer date = Date of transaction creation + Pre-notification delay
Or for a pre-notification delay of 14 days, a fund transfer date set to minimum 14 days after the transaction creation date (first bank business day starting from the calculated minimum presentation date).
- If the pre-notification delay is shorter than or equal to 2 days:
- Comparison with the due date requested by the merchant
If the merchant has requested a due date when creating the transaction, the requested due date and the minimum fund transfer date calculated during the previous steps are compared.
If the requested due date is greater than the minimum fund transfer date, then:
Fund transfer date = Due date requested by the merchant
Conclusion
In case the merchant wants the payments to be made on a specific date, the requirements are:
- The requested due date must be on a bank business day.
- The delay between the transaction creation date and the desired due date must be greater than the configured pre-notification delay (or the capture delay if it is greater than the pre-notification delay).
- In case the pre-notification delay is shorter than or equal to 2 days, the minimum delay between the date of transaction creation and the desired fund transfer date is two days.
Additional note
In case payment files are used, they are processed twice daily at 7 a.m. and at 1 p.m., every day of the week. If the merchant sends his or her payment file after 1 p.m., the corresponding transactions will be created the following morning at 7 a.m.
Examples:
| Date of transaction creation | Requested due date | Configured pre-notification delay | Date of presentation to the bank | Date of fund transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 0 | Tue 03/01/2017 | Wed 04/01/2017 (1) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 1 | Tue 03/01/2017 | Wed 04/01/2017 (1) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 2 | Tue 03/01/2017 | Wed 04/01/2017 (1) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 3 | Wed 04/01/2017 | Thu 05/01/2017 |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 5 | Fri 06/01/2017 | Fri 09/01/2017 (2) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 7 | Fri 06/01/2017 | Mon 09/01/2017 |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Mon 02/01/2017 | 14 | Fri 13/01/2017 | Mon 16/01/2017 |
- Since the minimum processing delay is two days, the request for transfer of funds cannot be sent to the bank before 04/01/2017.
- In accordance with the the 5-day pre-notification delay, the transaction fund transfer date will be Saturday 07/01/2017. Since it must be a bank business day, it is therefore postponed to Monday 09/01/2017.
| Date of transaction creation | Requested due date | Configured pre-notification delay | Date of presentation to the bank | Date of fund transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 0 | Thu 05/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017(1) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 1 | Thu 05/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017(1) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 2 | Thu 05/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017(1) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 3 | Thu 05/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017(2) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 5 | Fri 06/01/2017 | Mon 09/01/2017 (3) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 7 | Fri 06/01/2017 | Mon 09/01/2017 (3) |
| Mon 02/01/2017 | Fri 06/01/2017 | 14 | Fri 13/01/2017 | Mon 16/01/2017 (3) |
- Since the delay between the date of transaction creation and the presentation date requested by the merchant is greater than the processing delay, the request for the fund transfer is sent to the bank on 06/01/2017 as desired.
- Since the delay between the date of transaction creation and the due date requested by the merchant is greater than the pre-notification delay, the request for the fund transfer is sent to the bank on 06/01/2017 as desired.
- Since the delay between the date of transaction creation and the due date requested by the merchant is smaller than the pre-notification delay, the fund transfer date is determined based on the pre-notification delay.
| Date of transaction creation | Requested due date | Configured pre-notification delay | Date of presentation to the bank | Date of fund transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 0 | Fri 04/08/2017 | Mon 07/08/2017 (1) |
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 1 | Fri 04/08/2017 | Mon 07/08/2017 (1) |
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 2 | Fri 04/08/2017 | Mon 07/08/2017 (1) |
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 3 | Fri 04/08/2017 | Mon 07/08/2017 (1) |
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 5 | Fri 04/08/2017 | Mon 07/08/2017 (1) |
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 7 | Mon 07/08/2017 | Tue 08/08/2017 (2) |
| Tue 01/08/2017 | Sat 05/08/2017 | 14 | Mon 14/08/2017 | Wed 16/08/2017 (3) |
- Since the fund transfer must occur on a bank business day, the date is postponed to Monday 07/08/2017. As a result, in accordance with the pre-notification and presentation delays, the fund transfer is made on 07/08/2017 as “requested” by the merchant.
- Since the delay between the date of transaction creation and the due date requested by the merchant is shorter than the pre-notification delay, the presentation date is determined with respect of the pre-notification delay.
- In accordance with the the 14-day pre-notification delay, the transaction fund transfer date will be Tuesday 15/08/2017. Since the fund transfer must occur on a bank business day, it is therefore shifted to Wednesday 16/08/2017.