Full SEPA glossary (alphabetical index)

SEPA glossary: alphabetical index

Every term in the SEPA glossary, alphabetically. Each entry has its short definition and links to the full article.

To search fast, use the help-centre search or Cmd+F / Ctrl+F.

• AEB (Spanish Banking Association) — Spanish banking trade body publishing the legacy bank file formats (Norma 19, 34, 58, etc.).
• ASPSP (Account-Servicing PSP) — The PSP that holds the customer’s account. Usually their main bank.
• BBAN — Basic Bank Account Number — national format of a bank account, nested inside the IBAN.
• BIC — Bank Identifier Code — ISO 9362-standardised identifier that recognises a bank internationally.
• BIC8 vs BIC11 — BIC8 identifies the bank; BIC11 adds three branch-specific characters.
• Bizum — Spanish instant peer-to-peer and business payment service. Not strictly SEPA.
• CCC (Spanish legacy account code) — Spanish 20-digit legacy account code, replaced by IBAN in 2014.
• CID (Creditor Identifier) — Unique SEPA creditor identifier. Mandatory for issuing direct debits.
• CSM (Clearing and Settlement Mechanism) — Inter-bank system clearing and settling payment operations.
• Creditor (SEPA) — Individual or company entitled to collect a debt; in SEPA, the party issuing the direct debit.
• Creditor suffix — Three optional characters within the CID to split business lines under the same VAT.
• Cut-off — Cut-off time after which the bank processes the operation on the next business day.
• Debtor (SEPA) — Individual or company that pays; in SEPA, the holder of the account being debited.
• Due date — Date requested by the creditor for collection; key in SEPA direct debits.
• EPC (European Payments Council) — European body governing SEPA rules and schemes.
• Electronic mandate (e-mandate) — SEPA mandate signed electronically with identity and integrity evidence.
• End-to-End Identifier (E2E) — Unique identifier that travels with the operation end-to-end between creditor and debtor.
• FRST / RCUR / OOFF / FNAL — SEPA direct debit sequence codes: first, recurring, one-off or final.
• IBAN — International Bank Account Number — unique international identifier of a bank account (ISO 13616).
• ISO 20022 — International financial messaging standard based on XML. The technical foundation of SEPA.
• ISO 9362 — ISO standard that defines the format of BIC / SWIFT code.
• Iberpay — Spanish company managing inter-bank payment clearing via the SNCE.
• PSP (Payment Service Provider) — Entity offering payment services: banks, EMIs, PIs, fintechs.
• PSU (Payment Service User) — End customer using a payment service (consumer or business).
• Payment category (CategoryPurpose) — ISO 20022 code that classifies the payment purpose (salary, supplier, dividend…).
• R-message (return message) — SEPA message that returns, rejects or refunds a previous operation.
• Refund — Refund initiated by the debtor after a CORE direct debit has settled.
• Reject — Operation rejected prior to settlement due to technical or validation issues.
• Return — Settled operation returned for technical reasons (closed account, deceased debtor, etc.).
• Reversal — Cancellation of an operation initiated by the creditor before settlement.
• SCT (SEPA Credit Transfer) — SEPA scheme for euro credit transfers; standard since 2008.
• SCT Inst (SEPA Instant) — Instant variant of SCT: settlement in under 10 seconds, 24/7/365.
• SDD (SEPA Direct Debit) — SEPA scheme for euro direct debits; two variants: CORE and B2B.
• SDD CORE vs B2B — CORE is the standard SEPA direct debit (consumers and businesses); B2B is for inter-company collections with restricted refund rights.
• SEPA Mandate — Written authorisation from the debtor to the creditor to issue SEPA direct debits.
• SEPA batch — Set of transfers or direct debits sent to the bank in a single file.
• SEPA pre-notification — Notice from the creditor to the debtor before a direct debit, stating date and amount.
• SHA / OUR / BEN — Charge allocation options in international transfers.
• SWIFT code — Synonym of BIC; identifier standardised on the SWIFT network (ISO 9362).
• Settlement date — Date the operation actually settles between banks.
• Spanish ‘Cuaderno’ formats (Norma 19, 34, 58) — Spanish bank-file family for direct debits (19), credit transfers (34) and credit advances (58).
• TPP (Third Party Provider) — Authorised third party allowed to access accounts or initiate payments under PSD2.
• UMR (Unique Mandate Reference) — Unique reference identifying a SEPA mandate within the creditor’s organisation.
• VOP (Verification of Payee) — Mandatory SEPA service since October 2025 that checks the beneficiary name matches the IBAN.
• Workflow rejection — Internal rejection before submitting the operation to the bank. Does not produce an R-message.
• camt.054 — ISO 20022 schema for bank-to-customer credit and debit notifications.
• pain.001 — ISO 20022 schema for SEPA credit transfers. Most common version: pain.001.001.03.
• pain.002 — ISO 20022 schema for status reports and rejections of a submitted order.
• pain.008 — ISO 20022 schema for SEPA direct debits. Most common version: pain.008.001.02.

Conclusion

Missing a term? Drop us a line and we’ll add it.