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SEPA INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS

Send and receive euro payments using your Tide account

Open a business bank account, make international payments and manage your business all in one place.

  • Faster international payments

  • Low transfer fees

  • Streamlined transactions from one account

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Serving over 10% of all SMEs in the UK, helping contractors, freelancers and scaling businesses get back to doing what they love.

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Take your business from local to global with Tide

SEPA offers several benefits to business owners such as fast, efficient, and transparent euro transactions – saving them valuable time and money. 

Fast

Payments are processed within one business day, in one simple transaction. The harmonisation of payment structures across the SEPA zone means they are processed quickly and smoothly. 

Convenient

Receive both euros and pounds into your Tide account, and make managing your account seamless. Use one bank account and one payment card for all SEPA transactions.

Transparent

Get a breakdown of the FX markup and details of the original payment. We’ll convert any euros you receive into pounds and credit them to your Tide account, minus a 0.50% FX markup.

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What is SEPA and how does it work? 

SEPA stands for “The Single Euro Payments Area”, and allows users to send and receive payments in euros, usually within one business day. 

To send and receive euro payments with Tide, you can find your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and Bank Identifier Code (BIC) in the Tide app. Share your details at ease,and get paid in euros, straight to your Tide bank account.

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What are the fees for SEPA transfers at Tide?  

At Tide, we use the interbank exchange rate on which we apply a small markup (0.5%). For payments you receive, the rate at which it was converted, the markup and the equivalent fee amount are displayed in your app by tapping on the transaction in your timeline.

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20p

EUR transfers

(Free with any Tide premium plan)

Transparent

Make an international payment in a few taps

Transaction fee

0.5%

FX markup

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Getting started with Tide is easy

  1. Download the app On Play Store or Apple Store

  2. Tell us about your company What’s your company name and industry?

  3. Upload your ID and take a selfie We’ll securely verify who you are

  4. Get your current account approved in minutes We may ask for additional information if required

  5. You’re all set! Your account is ready to go – we’ll send your card in a couple of days

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Who can use SEPA?

To be eligible for SEPA international payments, both the payer and the recipient must have bank accounts within the Eurozone.

How to make and receive SEPA payments via the Tide app

  • Open a free Tide account and download the app

  • Tap ‘Details’ next to ‘Tide Current Account’

  • Click on ‘EUR SEPA’ followed by ‘Get EUR SEPA details’

  • Accept the T&C's for SEPA

  • Tap the Share button or the Copy icon to send your IBAN and BIC with anyone paying you in euros

What countries are in the SEPA zone? 

The SEPA zone includes a total of 36 countries. These countries comprise all the member states of the European Union (EU) as well as a few non-EU countries.

Full list of countries in the SEPA zone

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SEPA vs SWIFT: Key differences

Cost efficiency

The fees are generally lower for payments made in euros within the SEPA zone. SWIFT tends to have higher fees due to currency conversion costs. 

Transaction speed

SEPA transfers are typically processed within one business day, whereas SWIFT international payments can take from to 1-5 business days.

Simplicity

SEPA uses a standardised, simple format across the entire SEPA zone. SWIFT involves more complex and varied payment types, which can complicate processing. 

Security

SEPA follows EU regulations and is overseen by the European Central Bank (ECB). SWIFT has its own governance and less centralised oversight.

 Why Switch to Tide? 

  • Get all your business admin done in one place effortlessly by switching your existing business bank account over to Tide with the Current Account Switching Service

  • It’s free, easy and we’ll handle all of it for you

  • Simply fill out your old bank details and the switch will be done automatically, reliably and hassle-free

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Claire PedleyThe Poured Project

Once I’d filled in the application online, the account was active in about an hour. I can’t stress how easy Tide is to use.

SEPA International payments FAQs

If you’re receiving a payment sent to you via EUR SEPA, it will usually take a few minutes to arrive in your account. However, sometimes this may take up to 3 business days. 

If you send a payment via EUR SEPA by 1:50pm GMT on a working day, it’ll arrive in the recipient’s account on the same day. Delays are possible sometimes due to regulatory checks or your recipient’s bank.

Like GBP payments, the fee you’ll pay to send or receive euros via EUR SEPA depends on how many payments are included in your plan: Tide Free: No free payments included, you’ll be charged 20p per payment Tide Plus: 20 free payments are included in your plan. You’ll be charged 20p per EUR SEPA payment over this allowance Tide Pro: Unlimited free payments are included in your plan, so you won’t be charged a fee Tide Cashback: Unlimited free payments are included in your plan, so you won’t be charged a fee The fees are billed as part of our monthly billing process and will be included in the total fee amount summary on your bank statement. Each EUR SEPA transaction is also subject to the interbank exchange rate on the day, and we apply a 0.50% FX markup. See details in the Tide Terms. You won’t be charged anything for requesting EUR SEPA details for your account.

We use the interbank exchange rate of the day, and we apply a 0.50% FX markup. If you’re sending a payment, once you've entered how much you'd like to send in euros we'll show you the live exchange rate, FX markup fee and the transfer fee (if applicable to your plan) on screen. The exchange rate will also update automatically every 30 seconds, allowing you to see how much the person you're paying will receive and how much it'll cost you in real time. After you’ve made the payment, you can see the exchange rate used again by tapping on the transaction in your timeline. For any rejected outbound payments we will apply the exchange rate available at the time of the return. This means when the payment is returned to you, it might be a different amount. If you’ve received a payment, you can see these same details by tapping the transaction in your timeline.

The maximum amount of SEPA Instant Payment is 100,000 euros.

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments are specifically designed for transactions in euros. If you need to make payments in other currencies, you would have to use a different type of international payment method, such as a SWIFT transfer.

If someone needs to pay you in euros, they should use your EUR SEPA account details. Once they’ve sent the money, we’ll convert them into GBP and credit them to your main Tide account.

You can find your EUR SEPA details in your Tide app by tapping 'Details' next to your account, and then tapping 'EUR SEPA'. By clicking on 'Share' you will be able to share your details with your payors. If someone needs to pay you in GBP from overseas, they should use your GBP account details.

You can find these details in your Tide app by tapping 'Details' next to your main account > 'SWIFT' > 'Share'. International payments in GBP are usually sent to you via the SWIFT network.

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