Direct debit mandate · Concepts · European Finance Observatory

Roles that need it

SEPA Direct Debit (SDD Core and B2B)SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) lets a creditor collect euro from a debtor's account on the basis of a signed mandate. The Core scheme serves consumers and businesses, and consumers can ask for a refund without giving a reason within eight weeks. The B2B scheme serves businesses only, gives no such refund right and requires the debtor's bank to check the mandate.
R-transactionsR-transactions are SEPA payments that fail or are reversed after initiation: rejects before settlement, returns, refunds, refusals, reversals, requests for cancellation and, for credit transfers, recalls. Each carries an ISO reason code. Core direct debit returns must be made within five interbank business days of settlement, and refunds follow consumer refund rights.
pain.008 (customer direct debit initiation)pain.008 is the ISO 20022 message a creditor sends to its bank to collect one or more direct debits, carrying the mandate reference, creditor identifier, sequence type and collection date. Between banks the collection then travels as a pacs.003 message.

Updated 31 Oct 2026.