Questions & Answers
General
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What is SEPA?
- The Single Euro Payment Area (‘SEPA’) is an initiative to simplify euro payments across the European Union and several other European countries.
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What are SEPA Instant Payments?
- SEPA instant payments are payments which are processed within seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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What is the difference between a SEPA payment and a SEPA Instant payment?
- A SEPA payment transfers money between two payment accounts in the SEPA zone and usually takes 1-2 business days.
- A SEPA instant payment transfers money between two payment accounts in the SEPA zone and is processed within seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Can I make a SEPA instant payment in a branch?
- Yes, you can make a SEPA instant payment in all of our full service branches by using the Kiosk.
- For payments larger than €10,000, you can fill in a payment form.
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Can I make a SEPA instant payment on a non-business day?
- Yes, you can send SEPA instant payments at any time on any day, including weekends and bank holidays by using our digital services.
- There are a few exceptions to this such as times when the system is undergoing maintenance.
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Are there additional fees for sending SEPA Instant payments?
- No
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Which AIB accounts can I use to send and receive SEPA instant payments?
- If you have any of the following accounts with AIB in the Republic of Ireland, you'll be able to send and receive SEPA Instant payments:
Personal Demand Deposit Account
Demand Deposit Account
Online Saver Account
Youth Savings Account
Basic Bank Account
Advantage Account
Student Account
Student Plus Account
Graduate Account
Business Start Up Account
Business Current Account (incl. Young Farmer Account)
Personal Bank Account
Masterplan Account
Junior / Student Saver
AIB (NI) Euro Current Accounts- The following accounts can receive SEPA Instant payments:
AIB Corporate, Business and Purchasing Cards
AIB All Personal Credit Cards -
Why are you changing my terms and conditions?
- Whenever we introduce a new feature, like sending SEPA instant payments, or something different, we change our terms and conditions to let you know about these changes.
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Where can I see the new terms and conditions?
- You can read the terms and conditions on our website.
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What if I don't want to accept the changes to the terms and conditions?
- If you don't want to accept the changes to our terms and conditions, you have the option free of charge to close your account, clearing anything you owe on it first, or let us know you are ending your agreement with us. You can do this be writing to your local branch.
Limits
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What is a SEPA instant payment limit?
- With the introduction of SEPA Instant for outgoing payments you will now be able to manage your own daily or transaction limit.
- You can apply these limits to SEPA Instant Payments only.
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Do I have to set up a SEPA Instant payment limit?
- No, it's a service that's available if you would like to use it.
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Are there other limits that might apply to SEPA instant payments?
- Yes, there are other limits that apply to payments. Get more information on AIB Payment Limits.
Verification of Payee
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What is Verification of Payee (VoP)?
- It's a new check being introduced to help you protect your money.
- With ‘Verification of Payee’ (VoP) we check the name of who you’re sending a SEPA payment to before you send it. We'll ask you to confirm if you want to continue. This helps you make sure your money is going to the right person or business.
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When will Verification of Payee (VoP) be available?
- VoP will be available from 5 October.
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Is Verification of Payee (VoP) used for instant payments only?
- No, VoP will apply to existing SEPA payments and new instant payments.
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What will Verification of Payee (VoP) apply to?
- VoP will apply to all SEPA payments. VoP will also apply when you add/amend a payee and when you set up a standing order. It will not apply to payments made over the phone and 'pay a contact' mobile payments. However, there are other payment options available for SEPA payments on our mobile app where you will be able to use VoP.
- For paper based payment requests we will perform the check at the time of receipt of the request provided you are present. We won't perform the check for paper based requests if you're not present, or if you have asked a third party to make the payment request on your behalf.
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How does Verification of Payee (VoP) work?
- Before you make a SEPA payment or save/amend a payee, VoP will check the name of the account you're paying with the receiving bank to see if it matches the name you gave us.
- You will receive one of four results:
Match
Details do not match
Close match
Match not possible- You must review the results of the check carefully before deciding if you want to continue making the payment or saving/amending the payee.
- For incoming payments to your account, we must similarly help the payer verify your name, and may share information on your account name with them and their bank for that purpose.
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What does "Match" mean?
- The name of the person or business you want to pay fully matches the name that their bank holds for that IBAN.
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What does "Details do not Match" mean?
- The name of the person or business you want to pay does not match the name that their bank holds for that IBAN.
- Please check the result before deciding if you want to go ahead with the payment or saving/amending the payee.
- We recommend you double-check the details with the payee and only go ahead when you're sure the details are correct.
- Using unconfirmed payee details means you could send money to the wrong account or be at risk of being scammed. We may not be able to recover your money if that happens.
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What does "Close Match" mean?
- The name of the person or business you want to pay does not fully match the name at their bank for that IBAN e.g. "Joe Bloggs" shown as "J. Bloggs"
- We'll show you the name on the payee's account as confirmed to us by their bank.
- Please check the result before deciding if you want to go ahead with the payment.
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What does "Match not Possible" mean?
- This means we can't check the name of the person you want to pay. This could be because the account intended to receive the payment is closed, is not a payment account, or there has been a technical fault.
- Please check the result before deciding if you want to go ahead with the payment or saving/amending the payee.
- We recommend you double-check the details with the payee and only go ahead when you're sure the details are correct.
- Using unconfirmed payee details means that you could send money to the wrong account or be at risk of being scammed. We may not be able to recover your money if that happens.
- If you're in any doubt, we would recommend that you don't continue.
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Will VoP slow down the payment?
- No, while VoP will be an additional step to help you protect your money when making your SEPA payment, it won't affect the time taken to send a payment once you have approved it.
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Do Bulk Payments use VoP?
- Business customers making bulk payments have the option to use the Verification of Payee check on their bulk payment files.
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What countries are impacted by this change?
The SEPA scheme consists of 27 EU countries
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Republic of Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
The European Economic Area (EEA) includes EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are allowed be part of the EU's single market. -
What currencies are covered by SEPA?
- Euro
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Do I need to sign up or do anything additional to receive Incoming SEPA Instant Credit Transfers?
- No, you don’t need to sign up or do anything additional.
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What are the changes to the terms and conditions?
- The changes to the terms and conditions cover payments under SEPA Instant Credit Transfers into personal and business payment accounts held in the Republic of Ireland.
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Can I make an outgoing SEPA Instant Credit Transfer with AIB?
- Yes, but it will be later in 2025 and we'll let you know closer to the time.
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Are there additional fees for receiving SEPA Instant Credit Transfers?
- No there are no additional fees for receiving a SEPA instant payment.
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How do I identify when a SEPA Instant Credit Transfer has been received to my Payment Account?
- SEPA Instant Credit Transfers received to your Payment Account can be identified by their ‘TxnDate’ on your AIB account statement. This shows the transaction date on which the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer was received.
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Will I receive credit value and interest on a non-Business Day?
- From the 9 January 2025, if you receive a SEPA Instant Credit Transfer to your payment account, ‘TxnDate’ (transaction date) shows the date the payment is received on your statement. Value is determined for interest purposes on a SEPA Instant Credit Transfer from the transaction date. If the transaction date is not a business day, you will earn interest from the previous business day, where applicable. If this changes, we will let you know in advance.
- For example, if you receive a SEPA Instant Credit Transfer to your payment account on a Saturday the value of the interest (where applicable) for this payment will be applied from the previous business day e.g. Friday.
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Where can I see the Credit Value Date for a SEPA Instant Credit Transfer received to my Payment Account?
- You can find more information about your payments in the Payment Logs using our online banking services or you can print out a Payment Advice Slip from the Kiosk located at any branch. Our branch team would also be happy to help you. You will see a “Credit Value Date” field for SEPA Instant Credit Transfers received which is the date interest will be calculated from.