This makes it possible for health and leisure club owners throughout the EU to process one-time and monthly payments directly from within the iGo Figure Software.

Payments are processed electronically and there won't be the need for a visit to the bank to process direct debit payments.

Harlands Group is one of the first payment processing organisations in the EU to implement the SEPA standards.

SEPA is currently defined as consisting of the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Monaco.

In SEPA, bank customers can make electronic euro payments within and across 32 countries under the same basic rights and obligations.

Bianca Boone, international sales manager said: "This makes it possible for our hundreds of EU software customers to spend much less time in the manual process of creating bank deposits.

"Plus, there's no more worrying about when a member's recurring dues should be charged."

Harlands Group is a UK-based BACS Approved Bureau currently collecting direct debit payments across a wide range of industries including health and leisure clubs.