pain.008 is the ISO 20022 XML message a creditor sends to its bank to collect SEPA direct debits from customers who have signed a mandate. For the SEPA Direct Debit Core scheme, the European Payments Council's 2025 implementation guidelines, effective 5 October 2025, use pain.008.001.08. Rejects come back as pain.002. Klarbon plans to open and check pain.008 files; it does not create them.
What is in a pain.008 file?
| Block | Holds |
|---|---|
| Group Header | message identification, creation date and time, number of transactions, control sum |
| Payment Information | the creditor, the creditor's account, the requested collection date, the scheme (CORE) and sequence type |
| Direct Debit Transaction Information | one collection: amount, mandate identification and date of signature, debtor, debtor's IBAN, remittance information |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Full name | Customer Direct Debit Initiation |
| SEPA version | pain.008.001.08 in the EPC 2025 Core guidelines |
| Sequence types | FRST, RCUR, FNAL, OOFF |
| Creditor identifier | the Creditor Scheme Identification |
| Answer | a Customer Payment Status Report, pain.002 |
The EPC's guidelines describe the SEPA rules and the mandate data each collection must carry (EPC); the schemas are published by ISO 20022 (ISO 20022).
pain.008 or pain.001?
pain.001 pushes money out: you instruct your bank to pay. pain.008 pulls money in: you instruct your bank to collect from debtors under their mandates.
What does Klarbon do with pain.008?
Opening pain.008 files to show their collections, and checking them, are planned, not available yet. Klarbon does not create collection files: mandate references and creditor authorisation make them sensitive, and one accepted and executed by a bank can move real money. See supported bank statement files.
Related
Frequently asked questions
What is a pain.008 message?
A Customer Direct Debit Initiation in ISO 20022 XML. A creditor sends it to its bank to collect money from debtors who have signed a mandate.
Which pain.008 version is used for SEPA?
The EPC's 2025 SEPA Direct Debit Core guidelines, effective 5 October 2025, use pain.008.001.08. Banks state which versions they accept.
What is the sequence type in pain.008?
It says where a collection sits in its mandate. FRST is the first of a series, RCUR a recurring one, FNAL the last and OOFF a one-off collection.
Which details from the mandate go into pain.008?
The mandate identification, the date the mandate was signed, and the creditor's scheme identification, as well as the debtor's name and IBAN.
Sources
- European Payments Council, SEPA Direct Debit Core Customer-to-PSP Implementation Guidelines, EPC130-08, 2025 version 1.0 (PDF) europeanpaymentscouncil.eu
- ISO 20022, message definitions iso20022.org