But abuse is very low, as it requires that whoever does it identifies themselves first at another bank, and opens a merchant account (which has other verifications). And then reversing it is easy, too.
And you can't even shop with stolen IBANs at Amazon, because every major retailer will first send you a 1ct transaction with transaction info set to a OTP you use to verify that you own the account.
Wouldn't the equivalent of ACH transfer be SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT)?
I'd add that SEPA being mandatory for all participating countries has simplified transfers a great deal. Now most banks remember creditors, just like a phone book but for money, so sending money from your phone is pretty neat.
Additionally, the SEPA effort created ISO 20022, which is gaining ground worldwide as a one-stop-shop format for financial transfers. See this article from the US Federal Reserve a couple of weeks ago: https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/news/press-releases/feder...
And the merchant needs to have a valid direct debit mandate that he has submit to his bank which in turn transmit it to your bank for it to check. After your bank has confirmed the mandate the transfer can be initiated.
SDD can be reversed without giving any reason for a whooping 8 weeks by the customer sometimes simply by clicking "reverse" and entering a TAN.
But abuse is very low, as it requires that whoever does it identifies themselves first at another bank, and opens a merchant account (which has other verifications). And then reversing it is easy, too.
And you can't even shop with stolen IBANs at Amazon, because every major retailer will first send you a 1ct transaction with transaction info set to a OTP you use to verify that you own the account.