SEPA cut-off times for UK importers, and what a missed one costs

SEPA is the payment system for euros across 36 European countries. For a UK importer paying suppliers in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy or Poland, it is the cheapest and most predictable way to send euros. It has one catch: the cut-off.

The time that matters

A standard SEPA credit transfer submitted before 14:00 Central European Time settles on the next business day. Central European Time is one hour ahead of the UK for most of the year, so the cut-off is 13:00 in the UK.

Submit at 13:05 and the payment settles a day later.

Where it bites

• Fridays. A payment approved at 13:30 on Friday settles on Tuesday, not Monday.
• Bank holidays. TARGET2 holidays (1 January, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1 May, 25 and 26 December) are not business days for SEPA, even when UK banks are open.
• Two approvers. If the second approver is in a meeting until 14:00, the payment misses the cut-off even though the first approval was at 11:00.

How to avoid it

Approve euro payments in the morning. If you run a weekly payment run, run it on Tuesday or Wednesday, never Friday afternoon. And ask for the settlement date on the quote itself, so a missed cut-off shows up as a date that moved rather than a surprise email from your supplier.

Kelvern shows the cut-off on every SEPA quote and moves the arrival date the moment it passes. See all the rails and cut-offs.