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Structured ISO 20022 address information

Starting October 14 and 15 of 2026, unstructured address data will no longer be permitted in credit transfer and direct debit orders submitted by companies and institutions to their payment service providers. Fully structured ISO 20022 address information is preferred; some payment service providers support hybrid address data (partially structured) in credit transfer and direct debit orders as a temporary transitional solution.

Business customers of payment service providers can submit these orders in so-called ‘pain.001’ files for credit transfers or ‘pain.008’ files for direct debits.

Fully structured address data

Fully structured ISO 20022 address data in pain.001 and pain.008 files for payment service providers are preferred. In this format, the various components of each address are all listed in separate fields for each order: street name, house number, ZIP code, city name, and country code. No address data is included in free-form address lines. This applies specifically to the addresses for recipients of credit transfers and for payers of direct debits.

These are the ISO 20022 XML elements that can be used for this purpose:

  • <StrtNm> (street name)
  • <BldgNb> (building or house number)
  • <PstCd> (postal code or ZIP code)
  • <TwnNm> (town name)
  • <Ctry> (ISO 3166-1 two-character country code)

In a fully structured address, the <AdrLine> XML element must not be used (Address Line).

The minimum required two XML elements that must always be included in a fully structured address are <TwnNm> and <Ctry>.

ISO 20022 XML example of a fully structured address:


<PstlAdr>
   <StrtNm>Example Street</StrtNm>
   <BldgNb>123</BldgNb>
   <PstCd>1234 AB</PstCd>
   <TwnNm>Example Town</TwnNm>
   <Ctry>NL</Ctry>
</PstlAdr>

Hybrid address data

Some payment service providers support hybrid ISO 20022 address data in pain.001 and pain.008 order files as a temporary transitional solution, until fully structured address data are implemented.

These two ISO 20022 XML elements are always required in a hybrid address (just as they are in a fully structured address):

  • <TwnNm> (town name)
  • <Ctry> (ISO 3166-1 two-character country code)

If so desired, these two fields can be supplemented with other (structured) address fields and one or two <AdrLine> free-form address lines.

An address component must never appear twice in a hybrid address. Therefore, if a structured address field is submitted in a hybrid address — such as the <PstCd> postal code — that same component must not also appear in an <AdrLine> free-form address line. Clearly, the <TwnNm> town name and <Ctry> country code must never appear in an <AdrLine> free-form address line.

ISO 20022 XML example of a hybrid address:


<PstlAdr>
   <AdrLine>Example Street 123</AdrLine>
   <PstCd>1234 AB</PstCd>
   <TwnNm>Example Town</TwnNm>
   <Ctry>NL</Ctry>
</PstlAdr>

Unstructured address data

Unstructured ISO 20022 address data (fully unstructured) in pain.001 and pain.008 files for payment service providers will no longer be permitted for global non-SEPA transfers as of October 14, 2026. Starting the following day (October 15), these will also no longer be permitted for European SEPA credit transfers and direct debits.

In the case of an unstructured address, all parts of the address are included in one or more <AdrLine> free-form address lines.

More information…