Short version: the European Payments Council (EPC) had announced that from 15 November 2026 fully unstructured addresses would no longer be allowed in its payment schemes. On 9 September 2026 its Payment Scheme Management Board decided to delay that end date; it said it would reconvene in October 2026 to set a new date and publish updated rulebooks and guidance by October 2026 at the latest (EPC news, 10 September 2026). Structured and hybrid addresses remain supported, and the EPC still recommends moving to them.
Checked on 2 October 2026. If you read this later, check the EPC news page in the sources below for the new date.
What are "unstructured", "hybrid" and "structured" addresses?
| Format | What it looks like in pain.001 |
|---|---|
| Unstructured | Only free-text AdrLine lines (e.g. "Hauptstr. 1, 10115 Berlin") plus country |
| Hybrid | Structured town name and country are mandatory, with up to two free-text address lines for the rest |
| Structured | Separate fields such as street name, building number, post code, town name and country |
Do you need an address at all?
For most euro payments between accounts in the EEA, the beneficiary's address is optional in a SEPA credit transfer, and many payment files contain no address at all. The rules matter when you include an address, and in cases where an address is required (for example some payments involving non-EEA SEPA countries). Check with your bank.
What to do now
- If your files contain no addresses, nothing changes.
- If they do, start storing addresses in separate columns (street, number, post code, town, country) now. It costs nothing and avoids a rush when the new date is announced.
- Prefer pain.001.001.09 if your bank supports it, because it carries structured addresses fully.
In PayBatchKit: add any of the columns Street, Building number, Postcode, Town and Country (German headers such as Straße, PLZ, Ort also work). In pain.001.001.09 they are written as a structured PstlAdr (StrtNm, BldgNb, PstCd, TwnNm, Ctry), and a row with an address but no town or country is flagged before the file is built. In .03 they are written as country plus two address lines, the subset the EPC guidelines allow for that version.
Some software vendors still state that unstructured addresses end on 15 November 2026. Based on the EPC's announcement, that date is no longer in force.
Sources
- EPC news, 10 September 2026: "EPC delays address format migration timeline"
- EPC guidance document EPC153-22 – Provision of addresses under the EPC payment schemes
Related guides
Published 2026-10-02 by Karuna Labs. Our tools check file structure and checksums; always review outputs (and payment files in your bank's preview) before relying on them. This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice.