SEPA Payment Gateway for WooCommerce: Fast, Secure Payments Across Europe

Looking to offer a SEPA payment gateway for your WooCommerce store? If you want to expand your reach to millions of customers across 36 European countries, that’s the way to go. It’s a quick and easy solution to make your online store more accessible.

By enabling SEPA payments, you can simplify the checkout process for your customers and make managing your payments smoother. In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of a SEPA payment gateway for WooCommerce and walk you through the steps to set it up in your store.

What Is SEPA Payments?

Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is a network that simplifies bank transfers between European countries. It allows cross-border payments between bank accounts, making it easier to send and receive money across Europe.

SEPA payments workflow is processed in euros and regulated by the European Payments Council (EPC). Each year, the network handles over 50 billion transactions.

SEPA was created to unify European financial systems, making cross-border payments as easy as domestic ones. Before SEPA, each country had its own payment system, which made international transfers complicated.  SEPA was introduced to standardise these systems and create a unified process for electronic payments across the EU and EEA.

SEPA quickly became popular as a local payment method and bank redirect solution, simplifying cross-border transactions within Europe. In comparison, the U.S. has similar systems called ACH and Fedwire.

As of January 2023, the SEPA region includes 36 European countries. This includes not only EU members but also several nations that aren’t part of the eurozone or the European Union.

Types of SEPA Payments

• SEPA Credit Transfer is a one-time payment method for transferring euros between banks using IBAN codes. Both the sender and receiver must be within the SEPA region. If your business is outside SEPA, you can't use this option, as the banks must both be SEPA-based.
• SEPA Instant Credit Transfer enables real-time payments of up to €100,000. Unlike standard SEPA transfers, which may take hours or days, SEPA Instant processes 99% of transactions in under five seconds, 24/7, even via mobile devices.
• SEPA Direct Debit Payments (Core) allows businesses to set up automatic recurring payments from customers' accounts. It’s used for subscriptions or regular payments and helps prevent missed or late payments.
• SEPA Direct Debit B2B is for business-to-business transactions, such as loan repayments or large purchases. It requires extra verification by the debtor's payment provider, offering added security.
• One-Leg Out Instant Credit Transfer (OCT Inst) is a scheme that enables instant payments for cross-border transactions, where only one of the involved banks is located within the SEPA region.

Most SEPA transfers are completed within one to two business days, as long as they are sent before the bank’s cut-off time. SEPA Instant Credit Transfers are much faster, settling in just 10 seconds. For SEPA B2B Direct Debit transactions, the process takes at least three business days.

Benefits of SEPA Payment Gateway for WooCommerce

Adding a SEPA payment gateway to your WooCommerce store brings several advantages. First, it expands your market reach, allowing you to serve customers across 36 European countries, opening up new markets. It also offers convenience for European customers by allowing direct bank payments using familiar IBAN and BIC codes.

SEPA payments are quicker than international wire transfers, helping improve cash flow with faster settlements. Moreover, using SEPA ensures you comply with EU regulations for euro-based transactions, reducing the risk of non-compliance issues.

Offering SEPA payments can also build trust and credibility with European customers, showing you provide secure, localised payment options. Overall, integrating SEPA into your WooCommerce store leads to smoother transactions and higher customer satisfaction.

SEPA Instant Payments & Open Banking

Open banking allows banks and financial institutions to share customer data with third-party firms, like fintech companies and payment processors, with the customer’s consent. In the EU, it’s regulated under PSD2, enforced in 2018. This means customers can give apps or companies permission to access their financial data through secure application programming interfaces (APIs).

With open banking, payment providers can offer new services like the pay-by-bank payment method, which enables direct transfers from one bank account to another without using card networks. Customers are redirected to their bank’s secure interface to authorise payments, making the process quick and secure.

Open banking direct payments can be SEPA payments. As open banking allows for the transfer of funds directly between bank accounts, and in Europe, this often happens through the SEPA network.

In this scenario, open banking payments would typically use SEPA Instant Credit Transfers, which allows real-time movement of funds. This feature is especially useful in industries like e-commerce, where fast payments are critical.

How to Set up SEPA Payments for WooCommerce with Noda

With Noda, merchants can easily integrate a SEPA payment gateway using Noda’s open banking plugin for WooCommerce. This allows direct SEPA instant transfers between bank accounts for EU-based merchants.

Once the plugin is installed, merchants can add Noda as a payment option on their websites. Key benefits include:

• Lower Costs for Merchants: As open banking payments avoid expensive card networks, merchants enjoy lower costs and reduced chargebacks.
• Seamless User Experience: The plugin provides a smooth and intuitive payment process, reducing cart abandonment and boosting customer satisfaction.
• Easy Setup: You don’t need developers or technical expertise. The plugin can be installed quickly and with minimal effort.
• High Security: Open banking payments are highly secure, with multi-factor authentication required by EU regulation.
• Faster Payments: Payments are processed more quickly, improving cash flow and offering merchants a more efficient checkout process.

Setting up Noda with WooCommerce is simple

1. Onboard with Noda
2. Install the plugin through the WooCommerce admin panel
3. Add your API keys from Noda Hub after onboarding
4. Your WooCommerce store is now connected to Noda

This quick integration allows merchants to offer secure, open banking payments without the need for developers and enable their customers to pay with SEPA.