sepa

name	sepa
description	SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) compliance checklist. Validates SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, and SEPA Instant payments. Checks IBAN/BIC rules, scheme compliance, mandate management, and settlement timing. Use for euro payment processing in the EU/EEA.
license	MIT
compatibility	opencode, cursor, windsurf, cline, generic
metadata	{"audience":"reviewer, orchestrator, backend-dev","phase":"review, planning"}

SEPA Compliance Skill

You are executing a SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) compliance assessment.

Scope: This skill applies to all euro payment processing within the EU/EEA, including SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer.

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Applicability

This skill is required if the project:

• Initiates or receives SEPA credit transfers
• Manages SEPA direct debits (CORE or B2B scheme)
• Processes SEPA instant payments
• Holds SEPA mandates or creditor identifiers
• Integrates with SEPA clearing mechanisms (STEP2, RT1, TIPS)

This skill is not required if the project only handles non-euro currencies or non-EEA payments.

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SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT)

Requirements

• IBAN Only: Payments use IBAN; BIC is optional for intra-EEA transfers
• Euro Currency: Amounts denominated in EUR
• Maximum Execution Time: D+1 for standard SCT (next business day)
• Amount Limits: No maximum amount limit (national limits may apply)
• Purpose Codes: Valid ISO 20022 purpose codes used
• Remittance Information: Structured (Strd) or unstructured (Ustrd) remittance info
• Transaction Reference: End-to-end ID unique per transaction
• Payment Type: Service level SEPA or SCT

Validation Checks

• Debtor IBAN is valid and belongs to an EEA country
• Creditor IBAN is valid and belongs to an EEA country
• Amount > 0 and formatted with 2 decimal places
• Execution date is not in the past
• Payment instruction is not rejected before execution

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SEPA Direct Debit (SDD)

Requirements

CORE Scheme

• Creditor Identifier: Valid creditor identifier registered with national bank
• Mandate Reference: Unique MndtId per mandate
• Mandate Date: Date of signing or electronic acceptance
• Mandate Amendment: Proper handling of mandate changes (amendment indicator)
• Mandate Cancellation: Cancellation process implemented
• First Collection: First collection flagged with FrstColltnDt and SeqTp = FRST
• Recurring Collections: Sequence type RCUR for subsequent collections
• Final Collection: Sequence type FNAL for last collection
• Pre-Notification: Debtor notified 14 calendar days before first collection (unless reduced)
• Refund Window: 8 weeks for unconditional refund; 13 months for unauthorized
• Maximum Execution Time: D+1 for collection
• Reversal: Reversal (pacs.007) supported within 10 banking days

B2B Scheme

• B2B Mandate: Explicit B2B mandate type (not CORE)
• Debtor Authorization: Debtor bank verifies authorization before debiting
• No Refund: No refund right for B2B (unlike CORE)
• Pre-Notification: Timing agreed between creditor and debtor
• Mandate Management: Same mandate rules as CORE but with B2B-specific identifiers

Validation Checks

• Mandate is active and not expired
• Mandate reference matches the creditor identifier
• Collection amount does not exceed mandate limits
• Collection date respects pre-notification period
• Debtor account accepts direct debits
• Amended mandate is properly flagged and tracked

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SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst)

Requirements

• Execution Time: Funds available within 10 seconds (max 20 seconds)
• Maximum Amount: €100,000 per transaction (unless higher limit agreed)
• 24/7/365: Available at all times, including weekends and holidays
• Confirmation: Real-time confirmation (acceptance or rejection)
• Reachability: Check if both debtor and creditor banks are reachable via SCT Inst
• Fallback: Standard SCT fallback if SCT Inst unavailable
• Service Level: SCTInst or equivalent service level code

Validation Checks

• Amount <= €100,000 (or agreed limit)
• Both banks are reachable via instant scheme
• Timeout handling for non-response
• Reconciliation of instant vs. standard SCT

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Cross-Border (Non-EEA) Considerations

• IBAN Countries: SCT applies to IBAN countries in SEPA zone (EU + EEA + Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, UK)
• Currency Conversion: Non-EUR accounts may require conversion
• Fee Transparency: Fees split between debtor and creditor (SHA)
• Regulatory Compliance: Local regulations may apply alongside SEPA

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Code-Level Checks

• IBAN validation covers all SEPA countries (36+ country codes)
• BIC validation for cross-border transfers where required
• Amount stored as decimal with exact precision (no rounding errors)
• Execution date calculation respects banking days and holidays
• Mandate expiration dates are tracked and enforced
• Pre-notification scheduling and logging
• Reversal/reject handling within 10 banking days
• Reconciliation of end-to-end IDs across settlement reports
• Audit trail for all SEPA transactions

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Report Format

# SEPA Assessment Report

## Scope: [payment module/feature]
## Date: YYYY-MM-DD

## Applicability: [Applicable / Not Applicable]
[reason]

## Schemes Assessed
- [ ] SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT)
- [ ] SEPA Direct Debit CORE
- [ ] SEPA Direct Debit B2B
- [ ] SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst)

## Findings

### SEPA Credit Transfer — [🔴|🟡|✅]
[findings]

### SEPA Direct Debit — [🔴|🟡|✅]
[findings]

### SEPA Instant — [🔴|🟡|✅]
[findings]

### Cross-Border — [🔴|🟡|✅]
[findings]

### Code-Level Checks — [🔴|🟡|✅]
[findings]

## Summary
- 🔴 Critical: X
- 🟡 Warning: Y
- ✅ Pass: Z
- **Status**: [COMPLIANT | PARTIAL | NON-COMPLIANT]

## Action Items
1. [priority action]

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Rules

1. IBAN validation is mandatory — all SEPA payments must validate IBAN
2. Mandate management is critical — direct debit without valid mandates is illegal
3. Pre-notification timing — 14 days before first collection unless contractually reduced
4. Refund handling — CORE allows 8-week unconditional refund; implement it
5. Cross-reference with ISO 20022 — SEPA uses ISO 20022 message formats
6. Cross-reference with PSD2 — SEPA is a payment service under PSD2