Setting up SEPA direct debit: step by step for course providers

1. Applying for a creditor identifier

The creditor ID identifies you as the recipient of direct debits. In Germany it is issued by the Deutsche Bundesbank:

Online and free of charge through the Bundesbank portal, in two stages: application and confirmation.
The ID arrives by email, usually within a few hours, at the latest on the next business day.
The prerequisite is a main residence or business address in Germany. You need the register number, or as a private individual your ID card number.
Registered associations apply for the ID in the name of the association, not in the name of the chairperson.
Structure: 18 characters – “DE”, two check digits, “ZZZ” and 11 further positions.

2. The agreement with your bank

The creditor ID alone does not entitle you to collect. Your bank has to agree and conclude a collection agreement with you. Among other things it sets out whether they accept mandates granted online and how you send the pre-notification. While you are at it, ask about cut-off times and fees for returned debits.

3. The mandate

With the mandate the payer allows you to debit their account. There is no statutory form requirement, but in case of doubt you have to prove the mandate. According to the European Payments Council rulebook it has to contain:

a heading containing “SEPA”,
your name, your address and your creditor ID,
the mandate reference (it may be supplied later),
whether it concerns a one-off or a recurring payment,
the payer's name and IBAN,
place, date and signature,
the authorisation text noting that a refund may be requested within eight weeks.

Keep mandates for at least 14 months after the last debit. Whether a mandate granted online without a signature is sufficient depends on the agreement with your bank.

4. The pre-notification

Before every collection you announce the amount and the due date – at the latest 14 calendar days beforehand, unless you have agreed otherwise with the payer. One notification may cover several collections, a payment plan for a whole term for instance. In practice it is convenient to put it straight on the invoice.

5. Creating and submitting the file

You submit the direct debits together as an XML file in your online banking. For the core scheme (SEPA CORE) a single rule has applied since November 2016: submit at the latest one TARGET business day before the due date (D-1), at the earliest 14 calendar days before. Your bank's cut-off time applies in addition.

6. New file format from November 2026

The German banking industry is moving direct debit files to the newer ISO 20022 version:

The previous format pain.008.001.02 reaches the end of its life cycle in November 2026. From 15 November 2026 orders in the old format will “no longer be forwarded without further ado”; some banks name 14 November with their own cut-off before that.
After that pain.008.001.08 applies. Files submitted earlier whose due date falls after the cut-off are affected too.
Purely unstructured address details are no longer allowed in the new format. For SEPA direct debits, however, an address is only mandatory where there is a link outside the European Economic Area.

Tip: well before November, ask your software provider whether they supply the new format and your bank how long they will still accept old files.

7. Refunds, returns, expiry

Eight weeks: that is how long the payer can reclaim an authorised direct debit without giving reasons (§ 675x German Civil Code).
13 months: if there was no valid mandate, the period extends to 13 months (§ 676b German Civil Code). A properly documented mandate therefore protects you.
36 months: if a mandate goes unused for 36 months it expires and must be deleted. Counting starts from the last collection, even if that one was returned.

Not legal or banking advice. This article gives a general overview as at 22 September 2026. What is binding is the agreement with your bank and their requirements.

Direct debit in Kursimple

Kursimple supports the whole process from the Plus plan:

the IBAN and the authorisation for direct debit sit in the customer record, together with a note on how the mandate came about; customers can also enter them in their own account.
You enter your creditor ID, IBAN and BIC once in the application data.
The pre-notification appears as text on the direct debit invoice and in the invoice email – with placeholders for the due date and the masked IBAN.
Kursimple creates the collective debit for all open direct debit invoices or for a single course as an XML file for your online banking; first debits are marked as such.

More about invoices & payments

Sources

Read on: Online registration checklist · A fixed price instead of commission

Setting up SEPA direct debit: step by step