Payment Standardization in Switzerland

We have made several clarifications and corrections (errata) regarding the Release Notes  in consultation with the relevant financial committees.

The Implementation Guidelines and XML schemas published at the end of February 2025 remain unchanged.

> Adjusted Release Notes (incl. errata as of 20 June 2025) SIC Platform Releases 4.12 and 5.2 

Monday, 19 Mai 2025

Forum will be held in German

The new versions of the Swiss Payment Standards documents ("SPS 2025”) in the customer-bank message section:

• Swiss Business Rules, Version 3.2
• Implementation Guidelines for Credit Transfer, Version 2.2
• Implementation Guidelines for Cash Management, Version 2.2

› For the most important changes, please refer to the consultation reports already published.
 

Specifications for SIC Platform Releases 4.12 and 5.2 of 21 November 2025:

• Implementation Guidelines and Release Notes – SIC Platform Releases 4.12 and 5.2 (2025)
  

Further information and assistance for the necessary adjustments when converting the QR-bill and its processing are published.

> To the factsheets

A public consultation procedure on the planned changes to SPS 2025 will be carried out from 5 November to 25 November 2024. Details can be found in the following two documents:

• Adjustments to Implementation Guidelines for Credit Transfer
• Adjustments to Implementation Guidelines for Cash Management

The consultation procedure is primarily aimed at financial institutions, manufacturers of core banking software and manufacturers of ERP software, but is also open to all other interested parties.

Comments must be submitted on the forms provided for this purpose (one for each SPS document).

The documents, including the forms, can be found here: Consultations Swiss Payment Standards

The EBICS SC would now like to share the working drafts of the new version of the EBICS standard, V 4.0. EBICS providers, banks and other interested parties are invited to review the working drafts and report back any comments, ideas or criticism.

All information on how to obtain the working drafts and submitting your feedback can be found on the official website of EBICS SC, at: ebics.org.

Kindly provide your feedback by 16 September 2024.

We have made several clarifications and corrections to the release notes (errata, version 1.2) in consultation with the governing bodies of the financial centre.

In addition,

• the Implementation Guidelines "RTGS participant information" (reda.015/reda.017) and
• the base document have been updated.

> Adjusted Implementation Guidelines and Release Notes (incl. errata as of 20 June 2024) – SIC-Plattform-Releases 4.11 and 5.1

The new versions of the Swiss Payment Standards documents ("SPS 2024”) in the customer-bank message section:

• Swiss Business Rules (Version 3.1.1)

• Implementation Guidelines for Credit Transfer (Version 2.1.1)

• Implementation Guidelines for Status Report (Version 2.1)

• Implementation Guidelines for Cash Management (Version 2.1.1)

• List of bank transaction codes ("BTC") used in Switzerland
   

Specifications for SIC Platform Releases 4.11 and 5.1 of 15 November 2024:

• Implementation Guidelines and Release Notes – SIC Platform Releases 4.11 and 5.1
  

The version 3.0.2 focuses on the latest developments regarding the mandatory introduction of the structured address in crossborder payment traffic and its implementation in domestic payment traffic from November 2025. To the Swiss Business Rules, Version 3.0.2

Information on the structured address can also be found here.

Invitation for payment schemes: Interaction phase for the joint design of instant payments for account-to-account (A2A) payments.

The "Scheme-on-Scheme" is intended to enable standardized access for payment schemes to participate in the instant payment service within the SIC system in the future.

As part of a joint interaction phase, interested payment schemes have the opportunity to register by January 31, 2024 to participate in developing the planned Scheme-on-Scheme.

More details and the participation form can be found on our landing page.

The new version 2.3 of the "Swiss Implementation Guidelines for the QR-bill" will come into force on 21 November 2025.

As early as 1 January 2024, the new chapter 3.8 "Layout rules for the online use of the QR-bill" and changes to chapter 4.3.3 regarding the printing of information from the "Billing information" field will come into force. These changes do not require any technical adjustments.

All changes to version 2.2 of the Implementation Guidelines are listed in detail in the Documentation of Changes.

To the Implementation Guidelines QR-bill Version 2.3

Part II of the consultation procedure presents the remaining changes to SPS 2024. Time window for comments: 20 November to 20 December 2023

The results of the consultation procedure for part I (Instant payment) will be published in December 2023 and for part II in January 2024.

The documents, including the forms, can be found here: Consultations Swiss Payment Standards

This year's public consultation procedure is divided into two parts: 

• Part I presents the changes associated with the upcoming introduction of instant payments. It is due to be published in early September. Time window for comments: 5 September to 6 October 2023

• Part II of the consultation procedure presents the remaining changes to SPS 2024. It is due to be published at the end of November.

The documents, including the forms, can be found here: Consultations Swiss Payment Standards

Monday, 18 September 2023

Forum will be held in German

Register now

We have made several adjustments and clarifications to the release notes (cf. circular SIC A13/2023 in the extranet). In addition, the following three Implementation Guidelines have been updated:

• Correction to pacs.009 XML schema
  
• Correction to inconsistency in camt.056 and camt.029 XML schemas
  
• Correction to camt.025 XML schema
  

To the adapted Implementation Guidelines – SIC-Plattform-Release 4.10

The new versions of the Swiss Payment Standards documents ("SPS 2023”) in the customer-bank message section:

• Implementation Guidelines for Credit Transfers (Version 2.0.2)
• Implementation Guidelines for Cash Management (Version 2.0.​2)

The Implementation Guidelines for the status report will not be changed and the version 2.0.1 remains valid. Publication of the adjusted Swiss Business Rules will follow in March 2023.
 

Specifications for SIC Platform Release 4.10 from 17 November 2023:

• Implementation Guidelines – SIC Platform Release 4.10

The consultation report on SPS 2023 for Credit Transfers, Cash Management and Status Report has been completed.

The public consultation pertaining to the planned changes for the three Implementation Guidelines ran from 5 to 20 December 2022.

The new versions of the SPS documents will be published in February 2023.