France reworks bank direct-debit guidance around SEPA mandate

The service-public.fr page on bank direct debits has been substantially restructured around the SEPA mandate. A direct debit now requires the debtor's agreement in the form of a signed SEPA mandateService Public, on paper or electronically, supplied by the creditor, for both one-off and recurring paymentsService Public. The mandate must show the title “Mandat de prélèvement SEPA”Service Public, the creditor's name and addressService Public, the creditor identifier (ICS) issued by the creditor's bankService Public, the unique mandate reference (RUM) generated by the creditor for each business relationshipService Public, and the statutory wording authorising the creditor to instruct the bank and the bank to debit the account, with the 8-week refund rightService Public. The debtor completes the payment type (one-off or recurring), name and address, the IBAN and BIC of the account, the date and signature, then returns the mandate to the creditor with a relevé d'identité bancaire.

The one-off TIP SEPA subsistsService Public: sent with the invoice, signed and returned with the RIB on first use, each TIP is single-use for a pre-entered amountService Public. A one-off mandate is valid once, for one debit of a set amountService Public. A recurring mandate is open-ended until revokedService Public, with monthly, quarterly or annual frequencies; a mandate unused for 36 months lapsesService Public and requires a new signatureService Public.

To block an upcoming debit, the debtor contacts the bank adviser or uses the online banking space before executionService Public. To end a mandate permanently, the debtor sends a written revocation to the creditorService Public, preferably by registered letter with acknowledgement citing the references on the bank statement, and also notifies the bank in writing. Stopping debits does not end the underlying contract: subscriptions must still be terminated on their terms, and sums still owed must be paid by another means.

An authorised debit already taken is contested in writing to the bankService Public, keeping proof and the date of the request, within 8 weeks of the debitService Public; where the payee's establishment is outside the EU or EEA the period is 70 daysService Public, extendable by contract up to 120 daysService Public. Beyond contestation, the debtor keeps the right to be refunded by the bank on the statutory conditionsLegifrance, with a claim within 8 weeks of the debit dateService Public. The bank may not debit without authorisationService Public, and consent may be withdrawn while the debit has not occurredService Public. Unauthorised or wrongly executed operations must be reported promptly and no later than 13 months from the debitLegifrance.

On cost, set-up may be chargeable depending on the account agreementService Public, and the bank's information documents must distinguish set-up fees from execution fees; opposition, revocation or rejection operations may also be billedService Public. No fee may be charged for revoking a SEPA mandateLegifrance. Tariffs remain set by the account agreement.

Legal basis: Articles L133-23 to L133-27, L133-25-1 and L314-1 of the code monétaire et financier and the arrêté of 5 September 2018 on customer information on banking tariffs, as reflected in service-public.fr F20752.