SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) is a united area in which citizens and business operators may send and receive payments in EUR within SEPA member states under conditions, rights, and obligations identical to domestic payments in EUR regardless of where they are.
Before 1 February 2014, bank accounts in BBAN format (national account number and bank code) were used for communication with banks within the domestic wire payment system. For the purposes of international and unambiguous identification of bank accounts, the format is inappropriate. According to SEPA requirements, all business operators are required to use IBAN format bank accounts with communication with the banks effective from 1 February 2014.
List of SEPA member states
All member states of the European Economic Area – all 28 EU member states and Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Monaco, and Switzerland.