International direct debit, the one true advantage of SEPA

| 11-11-2016 | Jan Meulendijks |

At its introduction time SEPA seemed to be just another (more complicated) payment method, more imposed by EU-regulations than a market requirement. For international for exporting companies however, there is a very interesting bonus in the form of SEPA’s possibilities in the field of direct debit. Foreign bank accounts can be debited (for receivables) in the same way as Dutch bank accounts.

SEPA has contributed a lot to the awareness of using international direct debit. Before SEPA, companies had to to go through a complicated process in order to be able to process international direct debits:

– Set up multiple foreign bank accounts, in every country you export to
– Include these accounts in your cash pool and electronic banking environment
– Use unfamiliar local IT-tools and file formats
– Expensive to use and set up, lots of documentation required
-These were reasons for international operating companies not to apply the instrument of international direct debit.

All that is not necessary anymore. The main things are to arrange a SEPA Direct Debit contract with your own Dutch bank and obtain a direct debit mandates (one-off or recurring) from your foreign clients, similar to getting one from Dutch clients.

The mandates are sent to the debtor’s bank for registration. The transactions themselves can be included in your regular direct debit SEPA-batch alongside with your Dutch direct debits and presented to your bank for processing.

The result will be a better grip on your international receivables, cash planning, working capital management, all at low costs.

Your bank will be able to explain the procedures to follow.

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Jan Meulendijks – Cash management, transaction banking and trade professional

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