SEPA Direct Debit Business-to-Business (SDD B2B)
aka SEPA DD B2B, SDD B2B, SEPA B2B Direct Debit
The SEPA Direct Debit scheme variant for business-to-business collections. Faster settlement than SDD Core and no eight-week refund right once the debtor's bank has authorised the mandate, making it the standard for predictable B2B receivables.
Last reviewed May 2026
Definition
SEPA Direct Debit Business-to-Business (SDD B2B) is the business-only variant of the SEPA Direct Debit scheme run by the European Payments Council. It runs in parallel with SDD Core, which is the consumer scheme. The 2025 SDD B2B rulebook (currently version 1.1) is the operational standard. Two features distinguish SDD B2B from SDD Core. First, only legal entities (not consumers) can be debtors. Second, once the debtor's bank has authorised the B2B mandate, there is no eight-week refund right - the consumer-style 'no questions asked' refund window does not apply. That removes chargeback risk for the creditor and is why SDD B2B is the preferred scheme for predictable trade receivables, intra-group payments, professional fees and B2B SaaS subscription billing. The trade-off is mandate handling: under SDD B2B the debtor's bank has to verify and accept the mandate before the first collection, which most Irish banks require the debtor to lodge directly with their bank rather than relying on the creditor passing through a copy. Not every Irish bank supports SDD B2B mandate handling for SMEs - AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB do, but verification flows differ. Common business-software integrations include native pain.008 file generation in accounting platforms (Xero, Sage), Stripe Billing's SEPA Debit support, and dedicated direct-debit gateways such as GoCardless. Settlement happens on D+1 (one business day after the requested collection date) for SDD B2B versus D+2 for SDD Core.
Why it matters for software choice
For Irish SMEs collecting recurring revenue from business customers in Ireland or elsewhere in SEPA, SDD B2B is materially cheaper than card payments and removes the chargeback risk you live with on SDD Core. The friction is mandate setup: the debtor has to do more work, and the bank may want a wet signature. Software that automates the SDD B2B mandate flow (digital mandate capture, bank-specific lodgement instructions, mandate status tracking) is the difference between a working B2B billing operation and one that never collects on time.
Authority sources
- European Payments Council: SDD B2B rulebook and implementation (www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu)
- European Payments Council: SEPA Direct Debit (www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu)
- Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (bpfi.ie)
Software categories this affects
Vendors covered by this term
Xero
Cloud accounting with direct AIB, BOI, and PTSB bank feeds for Irish SMEs
Stripe Invoicing
Developer-friendly invoicing built on Stripe with SEPA support and per-invoice pricing
Stripe
Dublin-headquartered EU payments platform with native EUR processing, SEPA, and Irish IBAN payouts
Sage
Ireland's most established accounting platform with built-in RCT and PAYE support
Related terms
SEPA Direct Debit
The standardised Euro pull-payment scheme covering all SEPA countries. A creditor with a Creditor Identifier and a signed mandate can debit the debtor's account in any participating bank using a pain.008 XML file.
SEPA Credit Transfer
Standard EUR-denominated bulk payment scheme used to pay suppliers, salaries and Revenue liabilities from Irish business bank accounts. Settlement within one business day across SEPA.
Irish bank feeds
An automated daily connection between an Irish business bank account and accounting software, removing CSV uploads. Modern feeds run over PSD2 Open Banking APIs; older feeds use Yodlee or Plaid screen-scraping.
Strong Customer Authentication
PSD2 requirement that electronic payments use two of three authentication factors: knowledge (PIN), possession (phone or token) and inherence (biometric). Applies to Irish card and bank payments.