BankLint

Guides · Updated 2026-10-20

Remittance information in a SEPA pain.001 (Ustrd, Strd, RF)

A SEPA credit transfer carries at most one remittance information block per transaction, with either one unstructured text (Ustrd, up to 140 characters) or one structured block (Strd), not both. A structured creditor reference uses the type code SCOR; an ISO 11649 RF creditor reference is marked with the issuer ISO.

The rules

RuleSource (EPC132-08 2025 v1.0)BankLint rule
Either Strd or Ustrd may be present, not both.Item 2.164SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-001
Only one occurrence of Ustrd (1 to 140 characters) and only one of Strd.Items 2.165 and 2.166SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-002
Strd may be used if the tags and data inside it (without <Strd> and </Strd>) do not exceed 140 characters.Item 2.166
When a creditor reference (CdtrRefInf) is used, both Tp and Ref are present.Items 2.169, 2.170 and 2.175SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-004
The coded reference type is only SCOR.Item 2.172SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-003
Issr is mandatory when the reference is issued by a known institution, for example "ISO" for an RF creditor reference (ISO 11649).Items 2.174 and 2.175
References use the SEPA Latin character set, do not start or end with "/" and do not contain "//".Section 1.4SEPA-SCT-ID-002
  • SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-001BLOCKEREither structured or unstructured remittance, not both. SEPA allows either structured or unstructured remittance information in a transaction, not both.
  • SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-002BLOCKEROnly one remittance information occurrence allowed. Only one occurrence of Unstructured and only one occurrence of Structured remittance information is allowed.
  • SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-003BLOCKERCreditor reference type must be SCOR. When a coded creditor reference type is used, only SCOR is allowed.
  • SEPA-SCT-RMTINF-004BLOCKERCreditor reference needs both type and reference. When creditor reference information is used, both the reference type and the reference must be present.

Unstructured: Ustrd

One line of free text with up to 140 characters. The guidelines allow it to carry structured remittance information as agreed between originator and beneficiary. National letters such as ä or é are allowed when your bank supports them (SEPA-SCT-CHARSET-002); control characters and other scripts are not (SEPA-SCT-CHARSET-001).

Unstructured
<RmtInf>
  <Ustrd>Invoice INV-1001 of 2026-10-01</Ustrd>
</RmtInf>
Fails: two Ustrd lines
<RmtInf>
  <Ustrd>Invoice INV-1001</Ustrd>
  <Ustrd>Invoice INV-1002</Ustrd>
</RmtInf>
Corrected: one line
<RmtInf>
  <Ustrd>Invoices INV-1001 INV-1002</Ustrd>
</RmtInf>

Structured: creditor reference with SCOR

A structured creditor reference is the reference the creditor gave on its invoice, so it can match the payment automatically. In SEPA its type code is SCOR; for an ISO 11649 RF creditor reference the issuer is ISO. The reference has at most 35 characters.

Structured RF creditor reference
<RmtInf>
  <Strd>
    <CdtrRefInf>
      <Tp>
        <CdOrPrtry>
          <Cd>SCOR</Cd>
        </CdOrPrtry>
        <Issr>ISO</Issr>
      </Tp>
      <Ref>RF18539007547034</Ref>
    </CdtrRefInf>
  </Strd>
</RmtInf>
Fails: Ustrd and Strd together
<RmtInf>
  <Ustrd>Invoice INV-1001</Ustrd>
  <Strd>
    ...
  </Strd>
</RmtInf>

The RF reference above is an example value with valid check digits. The guidelines do not require the receiving bank to validate a check digit in the creditor reference, and BankLint does not check RF check digits. When the debtor’s bank receives a creditor reference it is not obliged to validate it either (item 2.169).

Extended remittance information (ERI)

The SCT rulebook has an optional ERI feature for banks that have adhered to it: one Ustrd of 140 characters plus up to 999 Strd occurrences of up to 280 characters each, with transactions marked PERI in the local instrument (EPC132-08 section 2.4). BankLint’s SEPA rules follow the core guidelines in section 2.1.1, which allow one Strd only.

Questions

How long can remittance information be in a SEPA pain.001?

Unstructured remittance information (Ustrd) has at most 140 characters and may occur once. A structured block (Strd) may contain at most 140 characters of tags and data.

Can I send structured and unstructured remittance information together?

Not in a core SEPA credit transfer: either Ustrd or Strd may be present in a transaction, not both.

What is SCOR in a pain.001?

SCOR (StructuredCommunicationReference) is the creditor reference type code: a reference provided by the creditor to identify the transaction. It is the only coded type SEPA allows.

Does the bank check the RF check digits?

It is not required to. The SEPA guidelines state that the receiving bank does not have to validate a check digit in the creditor reference, and may forward the transaction even if its own check fails.

Validate a pain.001 fileFree, no account needed, files are not stored.