SEPA direct debit: refusal, revocation or refund

As a creditor, you can cancel SEPA Direct Debits by initiation of revocation or request for cancellation. See for a summary of the possibilities.

Initiated by the creditor or by the debtor

As a creditor, you can cancel SEPA Direct Debits by initiation of revocation or request for cancellation. You can also request a reversal after execution of the direct debit. These options are possible for both the complete direct debit batch or for individual transactions in a batch. The debtor can refuse a SEPA Direct Debit Core collection beforehand or initiate a refund afterwards. Banks can return or reject SEPA Direct Debit collections. These interventions are called R-messages.

See below for a summary of the possibilities:

	Before the due date	After the due date
Initiated by creditor	Revocation	Reversal, within 5 business days
Initiated by creditor	Request for cancellation	Reversal, within 5 business days
Initiated by debtor or debtor's bank	Refusal (by debtor)	Return by bank: within 5 business days (SEPA Core Direct Debit) or 3 business days (SEPA B2B Direct Debit) Refund by debtor: within 8 weeks (SEPA Core Direct Debit)* Request for refund an Unauthorised Transaction (SEPA Core Direct Debit): within 13 months*
Initiated by debtor or debtor's bank	Reject (by debtor bank)

_{*N.B. the options Refund by debtor and Request for refund of an Unauthorised Transaction are not available in the case of SEPA B2B Direct Debit.}

_{If you import SEPA direct debit batches in Internet Banking, you can revoke these batches (or individual direct debits) through Internet Banking. You can also submit a request for cancellation beforehand or reversal afterwards. Debtors can refuse or refund a SEPA direct debit through Internet Banking.}
_{If you import SEPA direct debit batches in Access Online, you can revoke these batches (or individual direct debits) through Access Online. You can also submit a request for cancellation beforehand or return afterwards. Debtors can refuse or refund a SEPA direct debit through Access Online.}
_{If you deliver SEPA direct debit batches through Access Direct, you can revoke or request for cancellation of these batches (or individual direct debits) by sending a CAMT 0.55 message. For reversal you can send a PAIN.007 message.}

What action should you take?

You should take into account that the recovery of a refund instruction can be executed up to 56 calendar days plus 7 business days after initiation of the original direct debit.

For more information about the delivery of direct debit instructions with the correct sequence type we recommend you to consult the ABN AMRO addendum for SEPA Direct Debit (SDD).

Download the SEPA Direct Debit Rules and the ABN AMRO addendum for SDD