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Easier payments with the Payment Instruction

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The Dutch Payments Association and its members are launching the Payment Instruction, a template with a standard structure and layout for payment details on invoices. An optional QR code allows the payer to scan the payment details with a banking app on a smartphone, so they do not have to retype them in internet banking or their bank’s mobile app. The new Payment Instruction can include either a Dutch payment reference or a new ISO payment reference.

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Clear, easy and quick to scan or copy

The Payment Instruction contains all the information a payer needs to pay an invoice sender without errors. The payment details are clearly presented in the order in which they must be entered in internet banking, mobile banking or on a paper credit transfer form:

Instead of a sixteen-digit Dutch payment reference, formerly the Acceptgiro payment reference, the sender may include an international ISO payment reference in the Payment Instruction, using up to 21 freely chosen digits and letters.

The sender of a Payment Instruction can also choose to print a QR code that the payer can scan with a banking app on their smartphone. All payment details are then prepared automatically in the app, so the payer does not have to retype them and cannot make typing errors. The QR code may be a generic QR code for European credit transfers or an iDEAL QR code.

Piet Mallekoote, director of the Dutch Payments Association, warmly recommends the new Payment Instruction: “The standard Payment Instruction facilitates fast, error-free entry and processing of payments, particularly thanks to the payment reference and QR code. It makes payments easier for payers and recipients alike.”

Free and contract-free alternative to Acceptgiro

Organisations that still have an Acceptgiro distribution contract can switch to the freely available Payment Instruction template. More than nine in ten printed Acceptgiro forms are paid electronically through internet or mobile banking and then thrown away. Acceptgiro use has been declining sharply for years. In 2017, a quarter fewer paper Acceptgiro forms were processed than in the previous year. The template is, of course, also available to anyone without an Acceptgiro contract.

Additional alternatives to Acceptgiro

Other good alternatives to the disappearing Acceptgiro are Digital Direct Debit Mandates, payment requests with an iDEAL payment link and the iDEAL QR code.

European direct debit (in Dutch) includes several safeguards against incorrect or unwanted debits, allowing consumers to issue one-off or recurring direct debit mandates with confidence.

The sender of an invoice can send an iDEAL payment link (in Dutch) by email or mobile message. The recipient simply clicks the iDEAL link to pay securely and reliably through their own bank.

An iDEAL QR code (in Dutch) can also be sent by email or printed on paper. The invoice can then be paid easily and without errors by scanning the QR code with a smartphone.

Use the freely available Word templates for the Payment Instruction…

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