Creating a SEPA Payment Order

Tip: To use the Temenos developer sandbox, you'll need an API key. To learn more, see the Sandbox Guide.

About this guide

This guide explains how to create a SEPA Payment Order using the Payment Orders API to:

• Deliver an instant payment service
• Allow payment service providers to offer a SEPA-wide Euro instant credit transfer service to its end users

What is SEPA?

It stands for Single Euro Payments Area.

SEPA payments are a European Union (EU) initiative that harmonizes sending and receiving funds in:

• The 27 EU Member States
• The United Kingdom
• Iceland
• Norway
• Liechtenstein
• Switzerland
• Monaco
• San Marino
• Andorra
• The Vatican City State/Holy See

SEPA enables those doing business across borders in Euros to do so with the same ease as domestic transactions in the countries subject to SEPA. It was created to fully harmonize electronic Euro payments.

If you do business in Europe, you need to be able to initiate a SEPA payment for your end users.

What is a SEPA Transaction?

It's a type of payment order - a directive to a bank from a bank account holder instructing the bank to make a payment or series of payments to a third party. 

Why use a SEPA Payment Order?

It's an easier and cheaper way to make Euro payments between the countries within this agreement, compared to a standard international payment. Payments usually arrive one business day after processing. 

How do you create a SEPA Order?

Use the Payment Orders API, which allows the creation, viewing and management of payment orders.

Procedure: Create a SEPA Payment Order

1. Create a basic payload providing just enough information to get Transact to initiate the payment order.

2. POST a payload of instructions to the Transact application to begin the process.

Note: For a full list of the Payment order Parameters, go to the 'Create Payment Order' section of the Payment Orders API.

Quick-start payload

3. Create a new POST API request with your preferred API test tool. For this example, we're using Postman.

4. Paste the https://api.temenos.com/api/v1.0.0/order/paymentOrders endpoint url into the new POST request.

5. The screen shows the creation of a SEPA Payment initiation order of 50 EUR from “J Johnson Jr” to “NOKIA US”.

Note: In addition to creating standard SEPA Payment Orders, use this API to initiate SEPA instant payments.

More information

Go to the European Central Bank website Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) to find out more.