SEPA countries
Before the introduction of the euro, each country developed its own models and practices for cashless payments. This has led to a diversity of cross-border payment procedures. Therefore, the necessary steps to migrate and adapt to SEPA can differ from country to country.
Issuing authorities for bank identifiers
The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is the standard governing European bank account numbers and one of the cornerstones of SEPA. The IBAN is created according to international standards. Following these standards, the creation of IBANs is coordinated and regulated at national level.
IBAN registry
Detailed information about all ISO 13616-compliant national IBAN formats
National authorities in SEPA countries that issue bank identifiers used in IBANs
Oesterreichische Nationalbank
National register: English German
Contact: Lukas Simhandl SIDAT-Stammdaten@oenb.at
Telephone: +43 1 40420/4719
Secretariaat van de Interbancaire Overeenkomsten/Secrétariat des Accords Interbancaires (managed by the national central bank)
National register: English French Dutch
Contact: National Bank of Belgium
Cashless Payments Division François De Neef
cashlesspayments@nbb.be
Telephone: +32 (0)2 2212712
Central Bank of Cyprus
National register: English Greek
Contact: Payment Systems and Accounting Services Department
paymentsystems@centralbank.gov.cy
Telephone: +357 22714354
Estonian Banking Association
National register: English Estonian
Contact: Finantsinspektsioon
Sakala 4
15030 Tallinn
Estonia
info@fi.ee
Telephone: +372 668 0500
Fax: +372 668 0501
The Federation of Finnish Financial Servives
National register: English excel
Contact: Inkeri Tolvanen / Pirjo Ilola
inkeri.tolvanen@fkl.fi pirjo.ilola@fkl.fi
Telephone: +358 20 793 4254 / +358 20 793 4255
ACPR (Banking Supervisor)
National register: English
Contact: Banque de France - Pôle PRERI
fib@banque-France.fr
Telephone: +33 1 42 92 35 82
Deutsche Bundesbank
National register: English German
Contact: Roman Wolz, Monika Merkel
crm.paymentservices@bundesbank.de
Online contact form
Telephone: +49 69 9566 8877
Bank of Greece
National register: English
Contact: Department for the Supervision of Credit & Financial Institutions / Statistical Analysis Section
sec.StatAnalysis@bankofgreece.gr
Telephone: +30 210 320 5031 / +30 210 320 5152
Banking & Payments Federation Ireland
National register: English
Contact: info@bpfi.ie
Telephone: + 353 1 671 5311
Banca d'Italia
National register: Italian
Contact: Fausto Fettucciari
fausto.fettucciari@bancaditalia.it
Telephone: (+3906) 4792-5927
See IBAN registry
There is no need for a national issuing authority for bank identifiers in Latvia. BIC codes issued by SWIFT are used as bank identifiers. Additional information on how to identify the SWIFT BIC from IBAN in Latvia is available on the web page of Latvijas Banka (National Terms of IBAN usage were adopted on 12 December 2013 by the Financial and Capital market commission).
Lietuvos Bankas (Bank of Lithuania)
National register: English Lithuanian
Contact: Virginija Bružienė
tarpbank@lb.lt
Telephone: +37052680823
The Luxembourg Bankers' Association
National register: English
Contact: mail@abbl.lu
Telephone: (+352) 46 36 601
Central Bank of Malta
National register: English
Contact: Regulation and Oversight Office
oversight@centralbankmalta.org
Telephone: +356 2550 3603
In the Netherlands there is no institution acting in the capacity of issuing authority for BICs/bank identifiers. As the bank identifier in the IBAN is derived from the BIC, the Dutch Payments Association publishes a list of all Dutch BICs and bank identifiers.
National register: English
Contact: Jeroen Jacobs / Rahul Timar
j.jacobs@betaalvereniging.nl
Telephone: +31203051951
Banco de Portugal
National register: English Portuguese
Contact: Sofia Magalhães / Manuel Francisco / Teresa Lopes (Prudential Supervision Department - Banco de Portugal)
smmagalhaes@bportugal.pt
mmfrancisco@bportugal.pt
mtlopes@bportugal.pt
Telephone: (+351) 213130885 / 213130506 / 213128218
National Bank of Slovakia
National register: English
Contact: Alena Štiptová
Alena.Stiptova@nbs.sk
Telephone: +421 2 5787 2357
National Bank of Slovenia
National register: English Slovenian
Contact: Matej Koletnik
matej.koletnik@bsi.si Online contact form
Telephone: +38614719573
Banco de España
National register: English Spanish
Contact: registros.oficiales@bde.es
Telephone: +34 91 338 5149
Bulgarian National Bank
National register: English/Bulgarian
Contact: Violeta Aleksandrova
Aleksandrova.V@bnbank.org
Telephone: +359 9145 1345
Croatian National Bank
National register: English Croatian
Contact: Payment Systems Operations Department
Mirela Benko, Head of Payment systems Operations Division
Payment Operations Regulation and Development Department
Iva Kopecki, Senior Advisor
mirela.benko@hnb.hr
iva.kopecki@hnb.hr
Telephone: +385 1 45 65 057 / +385 1 45 64 796
Česká národní banka / Czech National Bank
National register
Regulation: English, Czech
Register: English, Czech
Contact: Ivan Fencl. See IBAN registry
iban.info@cnb.cz
Telephone: +420 2 2441 3580
The Danish Bankers Association
National register for Denmark, Faroe Island and Greenland
Contact:
- The Danish Bankers Association
iban@finansraadet.dk
Telephone: +45 3370 1000 - e-nettet A/S - Danish company that is responsible for banks’ joint infrastructure
IBANhenvendelser@e-nettet.dk
Magyar Nemzeti Bank (The Central Bank of Hungary)
National register: English Hungarian
Contact: Directorate Banking Operations
bmfviber@mnb.hu
Telephone: +36 1 428-2682 / +36 1 428-2747
Narodowy Bank Polski
National register: English Polish
Contact: Pawel Lysakowski
pawel.lysakowski@nbp.pl
Telephone: +48221851448
See IBAN registry
There is no need for a national issuing authority for bank identifiers in Romania. BIC codes issued by SWIFT are used as bank identifiers. The National Bank of Romania issued Regulation no. 2/2004 on IBAN usage.
Swedish Bankers' Association
National register: English
Contact: Lars Rutberg
lars.rutberg@swedishbankers.se
Telephone: +4684534400
In the United Kingdom there is no institution acting in the capacity of issuing authority for BICs/bank identifiers. Payments UK runs a SEPA IBAN only directory.
Contact: Lauren Jones
Lauren.Jones@paymentsuk.org.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 3217 8206
Finance Norway
National register: English
Contact: Tor Johan Bjerkedal
tor.bjerkedal@fno.no
Online contact form
Telephone: +47 23284352
SIX Interbank Clearing (in accordance with the Swiss National Bank)
National register: English German
Contact: SIX Interbank Clearing AG, Hardturmstr. 201, CH-8021 Zürich
pm@six-group.com
Telephone: +41583994747
Fact sheets, migration plans, reports and links
National fora have been established to deal with the special features of each country. Individual national migration plans have been drafted which outline the measures that need to be taken to implement SEPA.
National forum: SEPA Stakeholder Forum
National migration plan/report:
SEPA migration timeline (July 2013)
More information
Österreichische Nationalbank
Austrian SEPA Platform
SEPA report Austria, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Austria last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: The Steering Committee on the Future of Means of Payment
National Bank of Belgium (NBB)
National migration report:
en . fr . nl (June 2013)
press release (20/01/2014): fr . nl
More information
SEPAbelgium.be
Banking federation
National Bank of Belgium on SEPA
Federal Finance Administration of Belgium
SEPA government site of the Belgian Flemish Community
SEPA government site of the Belgian French Community
Site combining banking information
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Belgium last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: SEPA Steering Committee
Central Bank of Cyprus: SEPA
More information
Update on SEPA migration, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (June 2014)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Cyprus last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Estonian Payments Forum
Estonian Payments Forum, Forum participants
More information
SEPA Action Plan: en, et (September/October 2013)
Estonian Banking Association
Bank of Estonia (EN)
Ministry of Finance
Estonian IBAN
Current State of SEPA Migration in Estonia, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Estonia last update: 01 April 2015
SEPA website
National forum: The Core Group of the SEPA Stakeholder Forum in Finland
Contact: Federation of Finnish Financial Services: en, fi
National migration plan/report: en, fi (April 2012)
Financial market report en
More information
Bank of Finland
The Federation of Finnish Financial Services
SEPA documents (including information on IBAN and BIC)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Finland last update: 26 September 2014
SEPA website
National forum: French national SEPA Committee
Contact: SEPA France
National migration plan/report: en, fr (July 2012)
More information
Banque de France, SEPA
French Banking Federation / Fédération Bancaire Française
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in France last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: “SEPA-Rat”
Contact: sepa-rat@bundesbank.de, www.sepadeutschland.de
National migration plan/report: de (July 2014), en (September 2013)
More information
Deutsche Bundesbank, SEPA
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Germany last update: 24 July 2014
National forum: SEPA forum
Contact: www.sepa.gr
SEPA implementation and migration plan: en (May 2013)
More information
Hellenic Bank Association
Bank of Greece: SEPA
Bank of Greece: SEPA Operational framework
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Greece last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) – acting as national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry
Contact: Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI)
National migration plan/report: en
More information
www.readyforsepa.ie
Central Bank of Ireland: SEPA
www.BPFI.ie: SEPA
Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) BIC derivation for Ireland
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Ireland last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: National Migration Committee
Contact: Banca d´Italia, SEPA and Italian Bankers’ Association (ABI)
National migration plan/report: en, it
More information
www.siassb.eu
www.aiti.it
www.icbpi.it
The Italian migration process to SEPA – update, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (June 2013)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Italy last update: 24 July 2014
National forum: National SEPA working group
Contact: SEPA Latvia
National migration plan/report: en, lv (October 2013)
More information
Association of Latvian Commercial Banks
Bank of Latvia
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Latvia last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: SEPA Coordination Committee
Contact: Bank of Lithuania, SEPA
More information
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Lithuania last update: 01 October 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL) / commission moyens de paiement
Contact: ABBL
SEPA Implementation and Migration Plan: en
More information
ABBL
Central bank of Luxembourg
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Luxembourg last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Malta Bankers' Association (MBA) - acting as national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry
Contact: Malta Bankers Association
National migration plan/report: en (April 2014)
More information
Central Bank of Malta, SEPA
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Malta last update: 16 March 2015
National forum: National Forum on SEPA migration
Contact: Over op IBAN en, nl,
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB)
National migration plan/report: en, nl (February 2012)
SEPA migration monitor en, nl (spring 2013)
More information
De Nederlandsche Bank on SEPA: en, nl
Dutch Payment Association
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in the Netherlands last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Payment Systems Forum
National migration plan: en, pt (November 2012)
More information
Update on SEPA migration in Portugal, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
The Banco de Portugal
SIBS
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Portugal last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Slovak Committee for SEPA
National migration plan/report: en (November 2012), sk (November 2012)
More information
National Bank of Slovakia
Slovak Banking Association
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Slovakia last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: National SEPA Forum
Contact: Bank Association of Slovenia and www.sepa.si
National migration plan/report: en, sl (June 2012)
More information
SEPA Slovenija
Banka Slovenije
Regulation implementing EU Regulation No 260/2012 si
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Slovenia last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: SEPA Observatory
Contact: SEPA Spain
National migration plan/report: en, es (December 2012)
indicators: es
More information
www.sepaesp.es
Asociación Española de Banca (AEB)
Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorro (CECA)
Union Nacional de Cooperativas de Crédito (UNACC)
Sociedad Española de Sistemas de Pago (Iberpay)
Banco de España, SEPA
Conversion tool from BBAN to IBAN-BIC
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Spain last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: National Payment Systems Council (NPSC) - acting as national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry, Bulgarian National Bank
Contact: BNB)
More information
Association of Banks in Bulgaria
Ministry of Finance
SEPA migration in Bulgaria end of 2013 (June 2014)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Bulgaria last update: 24 July 2014
National migration plan:
- English last update: 20 October 2014
- Hrvatski last update: 20 October 2014
- Annex 1 English last update: 24 March 2016
- Annex 1 Hrvatski last update: 24 March 2016
- Annex 2 English last update: 27 January 2017
- Annex 2 Hrvatski last update: 27 January 2017
- Annex 3 English last update: 13 June 2017
- Annex 3 Hrvatski last update: 13 June 2017
More information
Payment Systems Act
Act on the Implementation of EU Regulations Governing Payment Systems
Croatian National Bank: The payment system, including bank codes and BIC
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Croatia last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Czech SEPA Coordination Committee
National migration plan: cz (October 2013)
More information
Czech SEPA Coordination Committee: presentation at the EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
Czech National Bank: Regulations applicable to payments
IBAN by Czech National Bank
Directory of payment system codes, register of SDD creditor identifiers in the Czech Republic by Czech National Bank
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Czech Republic last update: 24 July 2014
National forum: Danmarks Nationalbank
Danish Bankers Association
More information
Danish SEPA migration status, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (June 2013)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Denmark last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Hungarian SEPA Association – acting as national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry
Contact: www.sepahungary.hu/, Hungarian Banking Association
National migration plan/report: en (April 2013)
More information
Press release on SEPA standards in Hungary
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Hungary last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: SEPA Polska / SEPA Poland (SEPA PL) – acting as national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry
Contact: SEPA Polska
National migration plan/report: pl (October 2013)
Update on SEPA migration in Poland, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
More information
Search engine of bank numbers by Narodowy Bank Polski
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Poland last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: National SEPA Committee
Contact: Romanian Banking Association (ARB)
National migration plan/report: en, ro (October 2009)
SEPA migration update – Romania, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
More information
Romanian Banking Association, SEPA
Banca Nationala a Romaniei, SEPA
Romanian Banking Association, Regulating domestic payments / SEPA National Forum
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Romania last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
National forum: Swedish SEPA Steering Group of the Swedish Bankers’ Association – acting as national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry
Contact: Swedish Banking Association
National migration plan/report: en, sv (May 2009)
More information
SEPA in Sweden, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (November 2013)
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in Sweden last update: 24 July 2014
National forum: No national SEPA forum, however Payments UK acts as the national SEPA organisation for the banking and payments industry. Payments UK also communicates and consults on a bilateral basis with interested UK stakeholders.
Contact: Payments UK
National migration plan/report: There is no formal national SEPA Migration Plan since the UK does not operate a national/domestic euro direct debit scheme and its euro credit transfer scheme closed on 29 October 2010.
More information
UK SEPA Update, EU Forum of national SEPA Coordination Committees (February 2016)
The Payments in Euro (Credit Transfers and Direct Debits) Regulations 2012
Current payment projects
International Bank Account Number (IBAN)
Payments UK: Useful links and featured documents
Fact sheets on SEPA migration in the United Kingdom last update: 24 July 2014
SEPA website
Financial Conduct Authority – information for firms
Financial Conduct Authority – information for users
EEA Joint Committee: Decision No 86/2013 of 3 May 2013 amending Annex XII to the EEA Agreement – incorporating Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 and Regulation (EU) No 260/2012
EEA Joint Committee: Decision No 86/2013 of 3 May 2013 amending Annex XII to the EEA Agreement – incorporating Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 and Regulation (EU) No 260/2012
Government of Liechtenstein: Report and proposal on enactment of EEA Joint Committee Decision No 86/2013 (in German)
National forum: Comité National Monégasque SEPA
Contact:Comité National Monégasque SEPA
More information
Monaco intègre l'espace européen des paiements – SEPA(September 2012)
Official Government Portal: Monaco joins the SEPA (July 2009)
"To increase the use of SEPA solutions, deadlines have been set for migration to SEPA schemes from national solutions. For EEA countries outside the euro area, the deadline has been set at 31 October 2016. This means that, as from that date, domestic and cross-border payments in EUR carried out by Norwegian banks must use SEPA schemes. Banks must ensure their systems can support the required SEPA message format."
Source: Annual Report on Payment Systems 2012 by Norges Bank
Ministry of Government administration, reform and church affairs: Digital agenda for Norway - SEPA
EEA Joint Committee: Decision No 86/2013 of 3 May 2013 amending Annex XII to the EEA Agreement – incorporating Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 and Regulation (EU) No 260/2012
Reports on Payment Systems by Norges Bank
No additional information.
National forum: Swiss Payments Council (SPC)
Contact: http://www.sepa.ch/en/shared/contacts.html
Chair: SIX Interbank Clearing (National Adherence Support Organisation)
More information
www.sepa.ch
CPSS Red Book Switzerland 2011
- Overview report on national SEPA fora in the EU last update: 05 September 2014
- European Payments Council: Creditor identifier overview
- Statistics on payment instruments in the EU
- Blue Book, a comprehensive description of the main payment and securities settlement systems in all EU Member States (2007)
- Red Book, a comprehensive description of the payment systems and the other financial market infrastructures in various CPSS member states and the euro area (2011/2012)
- Regulation No 260/2012
- Download all available national fact sheets last update: 24 July 2014
Related links to Fact sheets on Regulation No 260/2012, European Commission: