These implementation guidelines (IGs) set out the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) rules for implementing the Customer-to-Payment Service Provider (C2PSP) ISO 20022 XML message standards based on version 1.1 of the 2023 SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) rulebook, which enters into force on 19 November 2023 at 03:30 CET(instead of 08:00 CET communicated in version 1.0 of the 2023 SCT Inst rulebook and IGs).
The new entry-into-force time will be preceded by a SEPA-wide 30 minutes downtime period from 03:00 CET up to 03:30 CET. During that downtime period, no single SCT Inst instruction, transaction, r-transaction, transaction investigation and any response message related to them will be possible. Up to 03:00 CET, all SCT Inst payment messages will be in the 2009 version of the ISO 20022 standard. As of 03:30 CET, all SCT Inst payment messages will be in the 2019 version of that same standard.
Content wise, version 1.1 of the IGs is exactly the same as version 1.0 and hence there is also no impact on version 1.0 of the SEPA XML Schema Definitions (XSDs).
It is also important to note that the 2023 IGs take into account the following changes that were already decided back in 2020:
- Migration to the 2019 message version of the ISO 20022 standard.
- Alignment of the attribute numbering between the four SEPA payment scheme rulebooks.
A list of main changes relative to version 2021 V1.0 has been included in the 2023 IGs. In addition, a separate document (addendum) has been published which provides a detailed overview of all the changes.
An errata document, which lists a number of updates to these IGs, and the related updated XSDs were published on 27 April 2023.
SEPA XML Schema Definitions (XSDs) related to the aforementioned IGs are also made available. (Note: XSD files can be opened via a text editor (e.g. Microsoft Notepad) or XML Schema editor).
Disclaimer: SEPA XSDs are not developed for ‘production’ purposes, they are to instantiate the business rules and restrictions contained in the implementation guidelines in a formal interchange format, sometimes referred to as Technical Validation Subsets (TVSs). Production instantiations should refer to the default ISO 20022 namespaces