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SEPA Direct Debit lets you collect euro payments directly from a customer’s bank account in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The customer gives their IBAN and accepts a mandate, and you debit their account for this payment and for later payments under the same mandate. Payrails processes SEPA Direct Debit through Stripe. Pick the PSP below for its setup steps and request examples.

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How a SEPA Direct Debit payment works

SEPA Direct Debit is a pull-based bank debit that settles over several business days:
  1. The customer selects SEPA Direct Debit at checkout and gives their IBAN and account holder name.
  2. The customer accepts a SEPA mandate that authorizes you to debit their account.
  3. Payrails sends the debit to the PSP, and the payment stays pending while the bank processes it.
  4. The PSP notifies Payrails of the final result, and Payrails updates the payment.
Save the instrument with the first payment to charge later merchant-initiated transactions (MIT) against the same mandate, without asking the customer again. Payrails captures SEPA Direct Debit payments automatically when the debit settles. To return funds after settlement, refund the payment.

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Supported currencies and countries

SEPA Direct Debit supports EUR (euro) as its only presentment currency. Payrails rejects SEPA Direct Debit payments in any other currency.

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Integrate SEPA Direct Debit

Choose the PSP that processes SEPA Direct Debit for you. The guide covers the PSP-side setup, the Payrails configuration and the request fields that PSP requires.

Stripe

SEPA Direct Debit via Stripe

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Check PSPs

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Ways to integrate SEPA Direct Debit

  • Payrails SDK: the Web SDK shows SEPA Direct Debit when your workflow returns it as a payment option. To control how a redirect opens, listen for the actionRequired event.
  • Payrails API: call lookup payment options, then authorize with sepaDirectDebit as the paymentMethodCode. The PSP guide lists the fields that PSP requires.
In both cases, confirm the final result through webhook notifications or the execution status. A SEPA Direct Debit payment stays pending until the bank settles the debit, so don’t fulfill the order on the authorize response alone.
Last modified on October 2, 2026