02 October 2013

EPC publishes clarification letter on electronic mandates

The letter addresses the current uncertainty among SDD scheme participants and other interested parties around the question of acceptance of electronic mandate solutions under the SDD Rulebooks.

It is widely recognised that the efficient handling and the acceptance of electronic mandates is a very important element in the context of a successful migration to and for the further development of the SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) Core and Business to Business (B2B) Schemes. A mandate is signed by the debtor (payer) to authorise the creditor (payee) to collect a payment and to instruct the debtor's payment service provider to pay those collections.

The EPC published a clarification letter, which addresses the current uncertainty among SDD scheme participants; i.e. payment service providers that have formally adhered to the SDD Schemes, and other interested parties around the question of acceptance of electronic mandate solutions under the SDD Rulebooks.

The clarification letter highlights that the signature methods as described in section 4.1 of the SDD Core and B2B Rulebooks are not exhaustive. SDD scheme participants may consider allowing continued usage of other legally binding methods of signature including those that were used under the local legacy scheme rules.

This matter was also addressed on 23 September 2013 by the SEPA Council.

Full letter

SEPA-Council statement of 23 September 2013

© EPC