Pay mortgage from foreign current account?

I don't think it's currently possible but AFAIK the deadline for full implementation of SEPA is Feb 2014. I understand that as of then, banks and other service providers etc. will have to deal in IBANs and BICs rather than account numbers and sort codes.

I know already here in Germany even state agencies are refusing payments unless the IBAN/BIC is provided. There is no provision (for example) to pay a parking fine in Berlin using a national sort code any more (don't ask me how I know!). You have to pay using the IBAN of the city's bank account.

I presume this will just as equally apply to an Irish mortgage provider whom you could furnish with your (FREE!!) German current account IBAN/BIC instead of a (NON-FREE) Irish current account one. I hope this is the ultimate intention of creating a SEPA anyway.

Any thoughts?

as far as i am aware there is nothing stopping banks issuing their direct debits on any bank within the SEPA zone (even outside Eurozone) so long as the bank is linked to the Sepa system.

So technically you can pay your mortgage from a UK GBP account. All transactions travel in EURO (regardless of where they originate from).



the only issue you will have on the account side is that banks (generally) require you to be resident in the country they operate in. However, from what I hear, this will be relaxed in the near future to be resident within the SEPA zone. This will (truly) open up Europe as one banking market.

Irish banks are shagged then

I already live in Germany and have German current accounts, so that side of it is not the problem. I've done a lot more reading since that post and now I know that from February next year banks will have no choice but to treat all SEPA current accounts the same wrt payments. Even payments inside Ireland will be SEPA (national sort codes and domestic account numbers will be abolished, leaving only IBAN/BIC combinations valid)