SEPA Countries List 2023

Translations:
de_DEes_ESetfr_FRit_ITnl_NL

SEPA is a European scheme that aims to standardize payments in the markets of the European Union. If you have a bank account in a SEPA country, you can freely and easily transfer money to other SEPA bank accounts. SEPA stands for the Single Euro Payments Area and there are 36 SEPA countries. Since 2021 banks are implementing instant bank-transfers ("Instant SEPA"), which enables money transfers within 10 seconds.

Sepa bank transfer for non-SEPA countries

  • You don’t have a bank account in a SEPA country? You can get a SEPA bank account for free online. This is also called a virtual bank account which are freely available from anywhere in the world.
  • In addition, there are easy solutions such as cheap and free sepa transfers to a bank account in a SEPA country from anywhere in the world.

List of SEPA countries 2023 include all 28 member states of the European Union, plus Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City. Over 500 million people can send and receive payments under the same rights and conditions irrespective of their location. To transfer funds to or from a SEPA country, all you need is an IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and the amount that you want to transfer.

What are SEPA payments?

SEPA is a payment system that makes it easy for banks to transfer money in EUR denomination. The payment system is free and has boosted business within Europe. If you or your business are not inside the SEPA zone you can still benefit from the possibilities of SEPA by opening a virtual bank account with for example N26, Wise, formerly Transferwise, Payoneer or other providers. With such an account, it is possible for a person in Europe to receive and send money in Euros with very low fees.

What is the difference between SEPA and Instant SEPA? SEPA transfer is a regular transfer, which may take between 12 to 36 hours during working days while Instant SEPA is an urgent Euro transfer that is processed in seconds, regardless of the week’s time and day. In order to enjoy Instant SEPA benefits, both sending and receiving bank needs to have the Instant SEPA feature.

Revolut

When did SEPA start?

Credit transfers in Europe were introduced in January 2008 while direct debits were introduced in 2010. This made inter-border transfers easy and efficient thus making it a competition. In 2014 SEPA handled 99.9 percent direct debits, 99.4 percent credit transfers and 79.2 percent card payments within Europe.

SEPA countries list 2023

What countries are in the sepa zone? Here’s a list of SEPA zone countries, including BIC codes, IBAN codes and the country’s currency.

Country/territoryBICIBANCurrency code
Åland IslandsFIFIEUR
AustriaATATEUR
AzoresPTPTEUR
BelgiumBEBEEUR
BulgariaBGBGBGN
Canary IslandsESESEUR
CroatiaHRHRHRK
CyprusCYCYEUR
Czech RepublicCZCZCZK
DenmarkDKDKDKK
EstoniaEEEEEUR
FinlandFIFIEUR
FranceFRFREUR
French GuianaGFFREUR
GermanyDEDEEUR
GibraltarGIGIGIP
GreeceGRGREUR
GuadeloupeGPFREUR
GuernseyGGGBGBP
HungaryHUHUHUF
IcelandISISISK
IrelandIEIEEUR
Isle of ManIMGBGBP
ItalyITITEUR
JerseyJEGBGBP
LatviaLVLVEUR
LiechtensteinLILICHF
LithuaniaLTLTEUR
LuxembourgLULUEUR
MadeiraPTPTEUR
MaltaMTMTEUR
MartiniqueMQFREUR
MayotteYTFREUR
MonacoMCMCEUR
NetherlandsNLNLEUR
NorwayNONONOK
PolandPLPLPLN
PortugalPTPTEUR
RéunionREFREUR
RomaniaRORORON
Saint BarthélemyBLFREUR
Saint Martin (French part)MFFREUR
Saint Pierre and MiquelonPMFREUR
San MarinoSMSMEUR
SlovakiaSKSKEUR
SloveniaSISIEUR
SpainESESEUR
SwedenSESESEK
SwitzerlandCHCHCHF
United KingdomGBGBGBP

SEPA credit transfer versus SEPA debit transfer

There are two SEPA payment methods, SEPA direct debit and SEPA credit transfer.

SEPA credit transfer

In SEPA credit transfer, money is transferred in the form of Euros. It transfers cash from one bank to another by the use of IBAN codes. It is used as a onetime payment method by customers for payment of goods and services.

SEPA debit transfer

SEPA debit also uses Euros but it is not a onetime payment method. It is a recurring payment method. The one paying has to authorize payment by providing information about the bank account name and number, IBAN and BIC. The payee has to retain the authorization of the recurring payment. The authorization can either be in electronic or in paper.

The debit transfer can be set to make recurring payment for a specific number of times or indefinite payment until the authorization is canceled. The set up is done between the customer and the business or between two businesses. For instance, it can be set to pay monthly rent, electricity bill or other recurring payments.

European Payment Council

SEPA credit and debit transfers are controlled by the European Payment Council. It is a way of improving international payment processing within SEPA countries. To be authorized to use SEPA debit and credit, participants for the SEPA scheme are required to present themselves.

Opening a non-resident bank account in Europe

Even without a registered business in Europe, you can still open a non-resident bank account in Europe. Non-resident bank accounts are better than normal accounts. One gets a free IBAN which makes it easy for one to receive payment from SEPA countries.

With a non-resident bank account, you can get the services you need without any hassles of dealing with a normal bank account. If you want a bank account in Europe as a non-resident, you will need to use internet banking.

Opening a non-resident bank account in Europe for non-Europeans

If you are not a resident in Europe and you want to open a bank account, you can open one remotely without being physically there. The process requires a lot of documentation. However, not all member states allow for remote bank account opening.

Among the countries that allow for remote bank opening are Latvia, Switzerland, Poland, Cyprus, Estonia, Luxemburg and Malta. The process might force you to be there physically to make the process easier.

Revolut

What is a virtual bank account?

A virtual bank is a bank account that one gets without physically visiting the bank premises. You do not need a lot of paperwork. However, the virtual bank account is regulated by the European Union and the national authorities making your funds secure. A virtual account is networked with many banks making it seem like having many banks in one.

Payoneer, Transferwise Borderless and other options

Other good options are Payoneer and Transferwise Borderless.

  • A Payoneer account is relatively easy to open, including for residents of countries such as Pakistan. With it you can get a EUR virtual account in the SEPA zone, but also a USD account in the US. Fees can be high though and the interface is not the most modern anymore.
  • Transferwise Borderless feels much more leaner, but is not as widely available yet. Costs are very low and it’s great for transferring and converting freely convertible currencies, even to some countries in Africa, for example with Transferwise it can take less than 30 minutes to transfer money to Kenya. Transferwise Borderless is available to both individuals as well as corporations and comes with a free credit card.
  • N26 is a German bank that launched in the US in 2019, and they’re expected to launch in Brazil and other geographies.
  • Revolut is a British bank that offers virtual accounts in many countries, apart from the EEA and Switzerland it’s available in Australia, and is expected to launch in the US and Singapore shortly.

Non SEPA countries 2023

Not all European countries are part of the SEPA zone. Here’s Non SEPA countries list:

CountryCurrency
AlbaniaLek
ArmeniaDram
AzerbaijanManat
BelarusBelarusian ruble
Bosnia and HerzegovinaConvertible mark
GeorgiaLari
KazakhstanTenge
KosovoEuro
MoldovaMoldovan leu
MontenegroEuro
North MacedoniaMacedonian denar
RussiaRussian ruble
SerbiaSerbian dinar
TurkeyTurkish lira
UkraineUkrainian hryvnia

Over the next decade only the countries in the Balkan area, such as Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania are expected to join SEPA.

Brexit SEPA: What is Brexit impact on SEPA payments? Although the UK is no longer part of the EU, it is still part of the SEPA payment scheme as non-EEA SEPA country. However, the fees might be higher. If you are looking for SEPA alternatives, you can set up a business in Estonia regardless of whether the UK remains in SEPA or not. If you’re not in the UK but you do business with UK businesses it can be smart to open an account with more flexible banks, such as Revolut. Revolut is free for individuals and already offers multi-currency accounts. After Brexit, Revolut acquired a licence in Lithuania in order to continue offering euro accounts inside the EU. In case you are worrying about the risk of the British pound dropping massively it can be an interesting option to hedge the risk with Bitcoin, which is likely to go up in price in case of tensions related to international trade.

References

Kasper is co-founder of FiFi Finance. He holds an MSc in mathematics. He has travelled and worked across the globe, for various companies and non-profits, including CouchSurfing and Geekcorps Mali, Mercedes-Benz and the Dutch tax authorities. Being a co-founder of B2B Pay, he is our expert on investments, virtual banks and fintech. Read more about us.