SEPA Payments - EUR

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a standardized payment network for sending EUR between bank accounts across SEPA countries.

Nium supports EUR local payouts through two SEPA rails:

• SEPA Instant (SCT Inst) for real-time payouts
• SEPA Credit (SCT) for same-day payouts

When a beneficiary bank supports SEPA Instant and the payout amount is within the supported limit, Nium attempts to route the payment through the instant network first. If instant processing is unavailable, Nium routes the payment through standard SEPA Credit.

SEPA payment rails

Feature	SEPA Credit (SCT)	SEPA Instant (SCT Inst)
Speed	Same day	Within 10 seconds
Availability	Business hours only	24/7/365
Cutoff time	14:00 EET	Not applicable
Amount limit	No fixed limit	Up to EUR 100,000

Supported countries

Nium supports SEPA payouts to bank accounts in the following SEPA countries:

• Aland Islands
• Albania
• Andorra
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bailiwick of Guernsey
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia (Hrvatska)
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Italy
• Jersey
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Malta
• Moldova
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• San Marino
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• Vatican City State

Some banks in supported SEPA countries may not be connected to the SEPA network or may not support SEPA Instant. In those cases, Nium may route the payment through a different available rail to complete delivery.

For more information, contact your Nium account manager or Nium Support.

Payment method details

The following table shows the values to use when creating a EUR local payouts to a SEPA beneficiary.

Attribute	Value
Payout method	LOCAL
Routing code type	SWIFT Code
Destination currency	EUR
Delivery time	Real-time for payouts up to EUR 100,000 when the beneficiary bank supports SEPA Instant Same day for payouts processed through SEPA Credit
Cutoff time and availability	SEPA Instant: 24/7/365 SEPA Credit: Business hours only, with a cutoff of 14:00 EET
Beneficiary bank network	Banks in supported SEPA countries that are connected to the SEPA network
Account verification	Supported. For more information, see Verification of Payee.
Narrative	remitter.name and customerComments appear on the beneficiary account statement

Payout lifecycle

SEPA payouts follow the standard remittance lifecycle with additional SEPA-specific status updates.

Step	Status	Description	Step type
1	SCHEDULED AWAITING_FUNDS CANCELLED EXPIRED FAILED INITIATED RFI_REQUESTED RFI_RESPONDED COMPLIANCE_COMPLETED REJECTED PG_PROCESSING	Standard payout lifecycle statuses. For definitions, see Track Payouts.	Generic
2	SENT_TO_BANK	The payment has been submitted to the SEPA network for processing.	Country-specific
3	PAID	The beneficiary has been credited either in real time through SEPA Instant or on the same day through SEPA Credit.	Country-specific
4	RETURN	The payout was returned by the receiving bank or network, for example due to invalid account details or a closed account. Returns are typically received within 2 to 3 days.	Country-specific

For more information, see Payout Lifecycle.

Beneficiary requirements

The following fields are required when sending EUR payouts through SEPA.

Beneficiary field	Inline beneficiary field	Description
payoutMethod	paymentAccount.payoutMethod	Must be LOCAL.
beneficiaryName	beneficiary.name	Must match the registered bank account name.
beneficiaryAccountNumber	paymentAccount.accountNumber	Must be a valid IBAN.
beneficiaryAccountType	beneficiary.accountType	Indicates whether the beneficiary is an individual or corporate entity.
routingCodeType1: "SWIFT CODE" routingCodeValue1	paymentAccount.routingCode.type paymentAccount.routingCode.value	paymentAccount.routingCode.type must be SWIFTCODE. paymentAccount.routingCode.value must be an 8-character or 11-character SWIFT code. Some banks accept only 11-character SWIFT codes.
beneficiaryCountryCode	beneficiary.addresses.countryCode	Must be a valid country code for the beneficiary.
beneficiaryAddress	beneficiary.addresses.line1	Required only for clients onboarded with the Nium Canada or Australia entity.

For more information, see Customer Onboarding

Return codes and troubleshooting

The following ISO return codes are commonly associated with SEPA payouts.

ISO code	ISO definition	Reason	Resolution
AC06	BlockedAccount	The beneficiary bank account is blocked and cannot receive payments.	Use Nium Verify if enabled, or confirm the beneficiary details before retrying the payout.
AC04	ClosedAccount	The beneficiary bank account is closed and cannot receive payments.	Use Nium Verify if enabled, or confirm updated account details with the beneficiary.
AC01	IncorrectAccountNumber	The IBAN is invalid or does not exist at the receiving bank.	Verify the IBAN with the beneficiary before retrying the payout.
RC02	InvalidBankIdentifier	The SWIFT code is invalid, unsupported, or does not match the beneficiary account.	Confirm that the IBAN and SWIFT code belong to the same bank. Confirm whether the beneficiary bank requires an 11-character SWIFT code. Verify that the SWIFT code is still valid and can receive the selected payout rail.

Verification of Payee

From October 9, 2025, EUR local payouts are subject to Verification of Payee (VoP) requirements.

Nium performs VoP checks on eligible EUR local payouts to verify that the beneficiary name matches the account holder name at the destination bank. You can also use Nium Verify before creating a payout to reduce payment rejections.

For more details, override behavior, and testing guidance, see Verification of Payee.