Brussels – The Single Euro Payments Area is a payment integration initiative of the European Union, launched in 2008 to simplify bank transfers in euros across 41 participating countries.
It includes all 21 EU member states that use the euro as their currency, as well as the six that do not – namely Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
The SEPA area also includes the four members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – four European microstates – Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City – as well as one former EU member, the United Kingdom.
Since 2025, five EU candidate countries – Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – have formally been included within the geographic scope of the EU’s payment integration initiative.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Ukraine have expressed interest in joining the SEPA area, while the European Commission proposed in 2026 that Türkiye should also consider joining, with the aim of strengthening Ankara’s economic integration with Europe despite the stalled EU accession process.
The Single Euro Payments Area allows individuals and businesses to make cross-border payments as easily as domestic ones, reducing costs and administrative complexity. It primarily covers standard bank transfers, while other methods – such as mobile phone or smart card payment systems – are not directly included. The system is composed of different schemes, including credit transfers, instant transfers and direct debits.
SEPA Credit Transfer enables standard euro payments between bank accounts, usually completed within one working day. SEPA Instant Credit Transfer allows near-instant payments, typically processed within seconds at any time of day. SEPA Direct Debit enables organisations to collect payments automatically from a payer’s account and is commonly used for bills and subscriptions.
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