Overview of SEPA

In February 2012, the European legislator adopted regulation (EU) No. 260/2012 which established mandatory deadlines for migration to a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) for electronic payments in countries where euro is the domestic currency (i.e. Bank of Ireland and it’s customers in the Republic of Ireland). This regulation was later extended in October 2016 to certain countries where euro is not the domestic currency (i.e. Bank of Ireland and it’s customers in Northern Ireland & Great Britain).

Further information on how these changes impact ROI and NIGB customers on 365 online is detailed below:

SEPA Transfers

A SEPA transfer is a payment to a payee whose bank is located within the SEPA zone (including Ireland and the UK). Transfers to these types of payees can be made in Euro only. The current countries that comprise SEPA are the 28 EU member states, the three European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) as well as Switzerland, Monaco, Gibraltar and San Marino.

List of countries within the SEPA zone

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

International Transfer

For Republic of Ireland (ROI) customers, an International (Non SEPA) Transfer (formerly known as ‘International Transfer’) is used for euro transfers to non SEPA zone countries (e.g. Euro to China) and foreign currency payments (e.g. USD to USA or Sterling to the UK).

For Northern Ireland and Great Britain (NIGB) customers, an International Transfer is used to send payments in GBP or other available currencies, excluding euro, to SEPA zone countries (e.g. GBP to France) and non-SEPA zone countries ( e.g. AUD to Australia).

Key changes to payees/transfer options for all Bank of Ireland customers:

• Republic of Ireland customers
  • Domestic transfers are now known as SEPA transfers and allow you to make euro payments to SEPA Zone countries
  • Domestic payees have been renamed SEPA payees with account details converted to BIC and IBAN
  • BIC and IBAN details are now required when setting up a new SEPA payee or standing order
  • International Transfers are now known as International (Non SEPA) Transfers and can be used to make euro transfers to non SEPA zone countries or foreign currency payments
  • Certain International Payees have been re-categorised as SEPA payees (i.e. SEPA zone countries with euro as their local currency and countries for which we only offer euro as the transferring currency)
  • International (Non SEPA) payees set up by post continue to have a daily transaction limit of €20,000 (limit is €10,000 if set up via mobile)
  • If a payee was originally added using a security code sent by post their daily transaction limit will move from €12,000 to €20,000 when they become a SEPA payee (limit remains €10,000 if set up via mobile)

  Any existing International payees for the SEPA zone countries on the table below remain International (Non SEPA) Payees. If you wish to transfer in euro to any of these countries then you will need to also set the payee up as a SEPA payee.

  Croatia	Poland
  Czech Republic	Sweden
  Denmark	Switzerland
  Hungary	United Kingdom
  Norway

  Any existing International payees from SEPA zone countries on the table below have become SEPA Payees as a result of recent changes.

  Austria	Italy
  Belgium	Liechtenstein
  Bulgaria	Lithuania
  Cyprus	Luxembourg
  Estonia	Malta
  Finland	Monaco
  France	Netherlands
  Germany	Portugal
  Gibraltar	Romania
  Greece	San Marino
  Iceland	Slovak Republic
  Latvia	Slovenia
  	Spain

• Northern Ireland and Great Britain customers
  • Euro payments to SEPA zone countries will now be sent as SEPA transfers instead of International transfers.
  • Existing international payees, whom you previously paid in euro, will now be created as SEPA payees. However these payees will still be included in your list of international payees to allow you the option to transfer money in available currencies other than euro.
  • Important note – If you have euro accounts registered on 365 with existing payees that you pay in euro they will not be automatically created as SEPA Payees. Therefore you will need to set them up again as SEPA Payees, for assistance on how to do this please telephone 0345 7 365 555
  • BIC and IBAN details are required when setting up a new SEPA payee.
  • International payees set up by post will continue to have a daily transaction limit of £20,000 (limit is £10,000 if set up via mobile)

  Any existing international payees, from a SEPA zone country, on the table below have now become SEPA payees*. These payees will still be available as an international payee option where there is a payment option available in another currency than euro.

  Austria	Latvia
  Belgium	Liechtenstein
  Bulgaria	Lithuania
  Croatia	Luxembourg
  Cyprus	Malta
  Czech Republic	Netherlands
  Denmark	Norway
  Estonia	Poland
  Finland	Portugal
  France	Romania
  Germany	Slovak Republic
  Greece	Slovenia
  Hungary	Spain
  Iceland	Sweden
  Ireland	Switzerland
  Italy

*Important note – If you have euro accounts registered on 365 with existing payees that you pay in euro they will not be automatically created as SEPA Payees. Therefore you will need to set them up again as SEPA Payees, for assistance on how to do this please telephone 0345 7 365 555.