SEPA formats from November 2026 - konfipay

General

Introduction

ISO 20022 is the new international standard for electronic payments. Under the original planning of the German Banking Industry Committee (DK), only SEPA formats of version 3.7 or higher of Annex 3 of the DFÜ agreement were to be accepted from mid-November 2026. This discontinuation has since been suspended; a new date has not yet been determined. Your bank will inform you separately about the details.

The format changeover in konfipay will nevertheless take place as scheduled. This ensures in the long term that payment processing runs smoothly irrespective of the date on which the banks actually make the changeover. Nevertheless, please plan any changeover of your upstream systems with sufficient lead time.

What is changing?

The changes affect the following procedures, among others:

• Foreign trade payments (DTAZV → ISO 20022): The DTAZV format (.txt) is to no longer be accepted by the banks in future; the date is currently open. Cross border payments will then only be submitted in XML format (ISO 20022, pain.001.001.09). Via EBICS, these payments are transmitted with the order type AXZ instead of AZV.

• SEPA credit transfers (pain.001.001.03 → pain.001.001.09): With the new pain format 001.001.09, payee addresses – where provided – must be transmitted in structured or hybrid form.

• SEPA direct debits (pain.008.001.02 → pain.008.001.08): With the new pain format 008.001.08, debtor addresses – where provided – must be transmitted in structured or hybrid form.

Structured and hybrid addresses

• Structured address = all elements are held separately: street / house number / postcode / town / country

• Hybrid address = mandatory: country / town in the dedicated fields; optional: further details (e.g. street and house number, postcode and town) in unstructured address lines

Under the EPC rulebooks, fully unstructured addresses were originally to be no longer permitted in any SEPA procedure from mid-November 2026. In September 2026, the European Payments Council (EPC) postponed this deadline beyond November 2026; a new date will be announced. Irrespective of this, we recommend transmitting addresses in structured or hybrid form already now.

EBICS 3.0

In some cases, banks may only accept the new formats via EBICS 3.0. We therefore strongly recommend switching your EBICS contacts to EBICS 3.0 where possible before 20 October 2026, and clarifying with your bank whether EBICS 3.0 is enabled for your bank access. You can find instructions in the article Switch to EBICS 3.0.

Please look out for information letters from your bank and also inform yourself online about these changes so that you are well prepared.

Implementation in konfipay

konfipay is operated as a cloud solution. We will provide the adjustments required for the changeover centrally and in good time – no update is required on your side. You always work with the current version.

Roadmap

Further information: Version 5.2.0

Submitting payment files from upstream systems

Payment files generated in an ERP or other upstream system are submitted via the Import function or via the API. During import you first define the import format (SEPA file or cross border payment); konfipay detects the specific file format automatically.

Which import option you choose is decisive for the format changeover:

The switch of the format default on 20 October 2026 has no effect on original files – these are transferred unchanged until the update.

Automatic conversion from version 5.2.0

From version 5.2.0 (31 October 2026), konfipay automatically converts original files that are imported or submitted via the API into the current formats before transfer. This is controlled via the action Conversion of outdated payment order files in the Settings.

• Files that are already in a current format are transferred unchanged.

• Addresses: No address is required for SEPA payments within the EEA. It is required for cross border payments and for payments to countries outside the EEA (e.g. the United Kingdom, Switzerland). Only in those cases – and only if the address is not already available in structured form – does an AI operated by konfipay itself break the unstructured address lines down into street, house number, postcode, town and country; no data is transmitted to third-party providers. Successful parsing cannot be guaranteed for every address. If an address cannot be resolved, the file is rejected with a message naming the payment partner concerned.

• If a file cannot be converted, it is rejected with a message before transfer.

• SEPA containers are not converted and are transferred unchanged.

• Conversion initially covers the formats according to the German specifications (DFÜ agreement).

Payments entered in konfipay

Payments you enter directly in konfipay – as well as payments taken over via the “Import payment orders” option – are written into a payment file by konfipay itself. From 20 October 2026, these files are generated in the new formats (pain.001.001.09 and pain.008.001.08); no action is required on your part. Should your bank unexpectedly reject files in the new format, first check whether your bank requires EBICS 3.0 for this. Otherwise, the format default can be reset temporarily to Common formats per bank account; we recommend contacting konfipay Customer Service in parallel.

The address fields in konfipay payment entry are already structured. Address data entered there can therefore be transmitted in structured or hybrid form without any changeover.

If you maintain your payment partners via CSV import, pay attention to the import format you use: the standard Windata format does not contain a column for the country. The Travic-Port and HBP formats carry the country as an ISO country code. You can find an overview in the Formats article.

Foreign trade payments

For foreign trade payments, konfipay currently supports both the DTAZV format and ISO 20022. For the DTAZV format, the following applies:

• Acceptance of DTAZV files: konfipay continues to accept DTAZV files and transfers them for as long as your bank accepts them. The discontinuation of the DTAZV format, originally planned for mid-November 2026, has been suspended; a new date has not yet been determined. konfipay points out the planned discontinuation in cross border payment entry and in the API documentation.

• Cross border payments entered in konfipay are generated in XML format (pain.001.001.09). No changeover is required here.

• Optional conversion from version 5.2.0: The setting Convert DTAZV into XML foreign payment allows submitted DTAZV files to be converted automatically into XML foreign payments. The setting is deactivated by default. Only activate it once your bank has enabled XML foreign payments for your bank access. If the DTAZV file is missing details that the XML format strictly requires, the file is rejected with a message.

• EBICS order type: XML foreign payments are transmitted with the order type AXZ, DTAZV files so far with AZV. Clarify with your bank whether the order type AXZ is enabled for your EBICS access. Which order types an EBICS contact holds can be seen in konfipay at the respective EBICS contact.

In the long term, you should switch generation in your upstream system to ISO 20022 (.xml) in good time.

Recommended actions

1. 🔐 EBICS 3.0: Switch your EBICS contacts to EBICS 3.0 where possible before 20 October 2026, as some banks only accept the new formats via EBICS 3.0.

2. 📤 Payment files from upstream systems: If you submit payments as original files, the new formats can already be used today, provided your upstream system produces them and your bank accepts the submission. From version 5.2.0, konfipay converts outdated formats automatically – nevertheless make sure that address data is included in structured and complete form (at least town and country).

3. 🛠️ External industry solution: If you use an external industry solution or ERP system for payment entry, inform your provider about the changes as well.

4. 🌍 Foreign trade payments: Check whether you submit DTAZV files. Switch generation in your upstream system to ISO 20022 (.xml), or activate DTAZV conversion from version 5.2.0 once your bank has enabled XML foreign payments (order type AXZ).

5. 🏦 Requirements on the bank side: Clarify with your bank from when the new formats will be accepted for your bank accesses and whether the required order types are enabled.

6. 📇 Payment partner master data: Maintain address data completely – in particular the country. When importing via CSV, note that not every format contains a country column.

Conclusion

The discontinuation of older SEPA format versions and the DTAZV format, originally planned for mid-November 2026, has been suspended; a new date has not yet been determined. The format changeover in konfipay will nevertheless take place as scheduled: on 20 October 2026, konfipay's own file creation will be switched to the new formats, and from version 5.2.0 (31 October 2026), submitted files in outdated formats will also be converted – no update on your side is needed. The conversion bridges the changeover but does not replace it: switch your EBICS contacts to EBICS 3.0 where possible, inform connected corporate or industry solutions about the changes early, and maintain address data in structured form.

If you have any questions, please contact our customer service team: support@konfipay.de