pain.001 is the ISO 20022 XML message a business sends to its bank to make credit transfers, one or many in one file. For SEPA euro transfers, the European Payments Council's implementation guidelines set what the file must contain; the 2025 version, effective 5 October 2025, uses pain.001.001.09. The bank answers with a status report, pain.002. Klarbon plans to open and check pain.001 files; it does not create them.
What is in a pain.001 file?
| Block | Holds |
|---|---|
| Group Header | message identification, creation date and time, number of transactions, control sum, the initiating party |
| Payment Information | the debtor, the debtor's account and bank, the requested execution date, the payment method |
| Credit Transfer Transaction Information | one payment: the end-to-end identification, amount, creditor, creditor's IBAN and remittance information |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Customer Credit Transfer Initiation |
| SEPA version | pain.001.001.09 in the EPC 2025 guidelines, based on the 2019 ISO 20022 messages |
| Syntax | XML |
| Direction | customer to bank |
| Answer | a Customer Payment Status Report, pain.002 |
The EPC's customer-to-bank guidelines describe the SEPA rules (EPC); the message definitions and schemas are published by ISO 20022 (ISO 20022). The guidelines say they are not enough on their own: each bank adds its own requirements by agreement with its customers.
pain.001 or a bank statement?
A pain.001 file is an instruction to pay. A bank statement such as CAMT.053 or MT940 reports what has been booked. Check the message type rather than its direction: a bank can also send a status report or notification.
What does Klarbon do with pain.001?
Opening pain.001 files to show their payments, and checking them, are planned, not available yet. Klarbon does not create payment files: one imported into a bank can move real money. For statements, see supported bank statement files.
Related
Frequently asked questions
What is a pain.001 message?
A Customer Credit Transfer Initiation in ISO 20022 XML. A business or its accounting software sends it to the bank to make one or many transfers in one file.
Which pain.001 version is used for SEPA?
The EPC's 2025 implementation guidelines, effective 5 October 2025, use pain.001.001.09, based on the 2019 version of ISO 20022. Banks state which versions they accept and may ask for additional details by agreement.
What is the structure of a pain.001 file?
A Group Header for the whole file, one or more Payment Information blocks with the debtor's account and execution date, and inside each a Credit Transfer Transaction Information block per payment with the creditor, IBAN, amount and remittance information.
How do I check a pain.001 file before uploading it?
Validate it against the version's XML schema and your bank's own guidelines, and test with your bank first. A file that passes the schema can still be refused by the bank for its own rules.
Can Klarbon check or create pain.001 files?
Not today. Opening and checking pain.001 is planned. A payment file can move real money when imported into a bank, so Klarbon does not create them.
Sources
- European Payments Council, SEPA Credit Transfer Customer-to-PSP Implementation Guidelines, EPC132-08, 2025 version 1.0 (PDF) europeanpaymentscouncil.eu
- ISO 20022, message definitions iso20022.org