Online and offline payments within Europe

Would you like to transfer money to a European bank account? Or settle invoices or pay for purchases across national borders? Or do you want to pay for your online purchase in a secure way?

An overview of the different payment options:

SEPA: harmonised payment methods in Europe

Thanks to SEPA, the Single European Payment Area for the euro,  bank transfers, direct debits and bank card transactions can now be completed in the same way across Europe.

By implementing the SEPA zone, the European Commission has led the banks of the SEPA countries to harmonise and standardise the means of payment in euros. Not all EU countries are part of the SEPA zone. You will find a list below of the countries concerned.

Standardisation within the SEPA countries focuses on the following payment methods:

Summary of SEPA countries

SEPA countries that are a member of the European Union and use the euro as their national currency Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus (Greek sector), Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain
SEPA countries that are a member of the European Union but use another national currency than the euro Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden 
SEPA countries that are not a member of the European Union Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the United Kingdom

The European Commission website ‘Your Europe’ provides general information on financial products and services in Europe.