Feature Request - SEPA support (EU banking support)

[MoweME]

Describe the feature

The requested feature should contain:

• SEPA account types
• SEPA transfer support
• SEPA direct debit support
• SEPA IBAN + BIC support

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SEPA stands for the Single Euro Payments Area. It is an initiative of the European Union that simplifies bank transfers denominated in euros, allowing individuals and businesses to send and receive payments across participating countries with the same ease and cost as domestic transfers.

How SEPA Works

Instead of using traditional local routing numbers, SEPA relies on two standard account identifiers:

• IBAN: International Bank Account Number
• BIC: Bank Identifier Code (often optional)

Types of SEPA Payments

• SEPA Credit Transfer: A standard, electronic transfer used to send funds from one account to another.
• SEPA Instant Credit Transfer: Allows funds to clear and become available in the receiver's account within 10 seconds, 24/7.
• SEPA Direct Debit: Authorizes a business or organization to pull funds directly from your account, often used for recurring bills (e.g., utilities or subscriptions).

Participating Countries

The SEPA zone covers 36 European countries and territories, including all 27 EU member states, non-EU members, and a few microstates:

• EU Members: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, etc.
• Non-EU Members: United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein
• Microstates: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City

Why is this feature important?

• SEPA/IBAN is the dominant transfer mechanism across the EU; employers and billers use IBANs for salary and direct debits.
• If you support SEPA, you support 99% of the banks, which are supported by PSD2 providers.
• This change fixes importer UX friction (accounts mislabelled as card-only or checking) and improves automated transaction classification.

Additional context, screenshots, and relevant links

• European Central Bank: Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)
• What are SEPA transfers?
• European Central Bank: Payments statistics: second half of 2023
  • The latest data shows that SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT) account for 96% of all credit transfers, while SEPA Direct Debit Core (SDD Core) represents 99% of direct debits by volume.

[jjmata]

Like we discussed on Discord, not sure SEPA helps much here with Sure, given that we don't handle payments. This would probably make sense if and when a "bill pay" or "make transfer" feature is implemented, not before. The current footprint of this codebase is reporting/categorization only, not bill payment or fund transfer/movement.