The company refused to accept direct debit payments on non-Italian SEPA IBANs or allowed them only under more burdensome conditions than those applied to Italian IBANs

The Italian Competition Authority has fined Agos Ducato SpA 800,000 euro, following an investigation conducted under article 9 of Regulation (EU) No. 260/2012 (the SEPA Regulation). Between 2014 and 2023, the company refused to accept direct debit payments on non-Italian SEPA IBANs or allowed them only under more burdensome conditions than those applied to Italian IBANs, in breach of the principle of equal treatment set out in Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation.

Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation requires payment recipients to accept IBANs from any SEPA Country, without imposing restrictions based on where the account is held, so that cross-border payments are treated in the same way as domestic payments. Whether in the context of a credit transfer or direct debit in euro, IBAN discrimination creates a barrier to the European single market, as it restricts the free movement of financial services and, as a result, the development of a single payments market. By ultimately ensuring the use of a single IBAN throughout the entire SEPA area, this provision removes the practical obstacles to accessing a payment account in the Country where consumers wish to purchase goods or services.

Rome, 9 February 2026

Text of the decision