On 1 February 2016, payment service providers (PSPs) in the Eurozone will be required to process Single euro payments area (Sepa) payments using only international bank account numbers (IBANs).

In anticipation of this deadline, Payments UK has launched the Sepa IBAN-Only directory, which helps PSPs sending Sepa payments to the UK to derive the bank identifier code (BIC) from the IBAN. The BIC will no longer have to be provided by the payer in order to process transactions but it will still be used behind the scenes to route a Sepa payment correctly to UK beneficiaries.

The regulation that comes into force on 1 February will enable greater automation of payments processing, will reduce errors and increase efficiency.

UK prepares for IBAN-only Sepa payments

Chief executive of Payments UK, Maurice Cleaves, said: “Payments UK has worked hard on behalf of the collective industry to build – and deliver ahead of the regulatory deadline - a user friendly tool. By delivering the directory early, we are enabling organisations to familiarise themselves with the new tool, as well as hopefully reminding any remaining UK institutions that receive Sepa payments, who are not currently involved, to get in touch and to participate.”

Institutions that receive Sepa payments in the UK, but is still to participate in the directory, or data vendors that require access to the UK Sepa IBAN-Only directory, should contact SEPAIO_Ops@paymentsUK.org.uk.