SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area)
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) refers to the single payment area for executing and receiving payments in euros under equal terms, rights and obligations, regardless of where the payers and payees are located.
The main objective is to establish a single payment system throughout the Eurozone and other European countries that have a national currency but accept payments in euros, and which are members of the SEPA area.
SEPA currently comprises 34 countries - all of the European Union members, as well as Ireland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Monaco and San Marino.
SEPA payment instruments:
1. SEPA Credit Transfers (Payment Orders)
SEPA credit transfers are all payments that the payer initiates to the debit of his account in favour of the payee’s account (cashless payment, transfer of funds from the payer account to the account of the payee).
The purpose of applying the SEPA rules and technical standards in the Republic of Croatia to credit transfers in kuna is to facilitate and prepare the entire payment system for the future introduction of the euro as the official currency of the Republic of Croatia and it has been in use since 6 June 2016.
New forms for initiating payment orders (pain.001 messages), order status information (pain.002 messages) and reporting messages (statements and notifications - camt.messages) have been introduced.
2. SEPA direct debit
SEPA direct debiting is a payment service in kunas for payment from the account of the payer (a natural person or business entity) initiated by the payee (business entity) based on the consent of the payer.
A payer is a natural person or business entity whose account is charged for a certain amount to the payee (business entity).
The payee is a business entity that initiates a payment based on the consent of the payer.
In the Republic of Croatia, Fina issues a unique identifier to the payee, which is called the Creditor Identifier (abbrv. CI), solely through their commercial bank when contracting SEPA direct debit
Applied since June 5, 2017.
Benefits of direct debit:
- safer and more efficient way of executing payment services within the predefined deadline
- more efficient management of liquidity and collection of claims
- standardized billing file format.
SEPA approvals
By signing the SEPA Direct Deposit Agreement for Businesses, a business entity gives its approval for the recipient of the funds to send an order for a SEPA direct debit payment to their bank, which will be charged to the payer's transaction account.
Useful links
Croatian Banking Association (HUB)
Direct debit is a national or cross-border payment service that enables collection of payments from the payer’s account, when the payment transaction is initiated by the payee with the consent of the payer.
FinTIS is an application solution that allows you to easily link your business IT systems (e.g. ERP system) with SEPA direct debit functionalities.
Additional benefits of using FinTIS include:
- you do not have to invest funds in developing your own solution,
- expand your business network to over 160 Fina branch offices,
- apart from your own locations, FinTIS can be used either at Fina or from a third party on your behalf, selecting the functionality that you need and paying only them.
The solution is intended for all business entities who want:
- to more efficiently manage receivables from end users of their services,
- to make their services more accessible, because the payer does not have to worry about paying their invoice, thus covering their obligations in a timely and secure manner.
It is good to have FinTIS for making use of SEPA direct debit, because it simplifies collecting and managing payer consent, provides support for creating a SEPA direct debit order, and allows the conversion of excel table data into a SEPA direct debit order.
By signing the SEPA Direct Deposit Agreement for Businesses, a business entity gives its approval for the payee of the funds to send an order for a SEPA direct debit payment to their bank, which will be charged to the payer's transaction account.
At the Fina branch offices, you can sign the SEPA Consent for Business direct debit for these payment recipients:
- ČISTOĆA d.o.o.
- DUNDOVO d.o.o.
- GRAD MALI LOŠINJ
- HEP ELEKTRA d.o.o.
- HEP OPSKRBA d.o.o.
- HEP-PLIN d.o.o.
- HEP TOPLINARSTVO d.o.o.
- ISKRA SVJETLOSTI
- KOMUNALNE USLUGE CRES LOŠINJ d.o.o.
- PEOVICA d.o.o.
- VODOOPSKRBA I ODVODNJA CRES LOŠINJ d.o.o.
Definition of terms
A payer is a natural person or business entity whose account is charged a certain amount by the payee (business entity).
The payee is a business entity that initiates a payment based on the consent of the payer.