Payment order
A payment order is the instruction to a bank or a payment provider to transfer a specific amount to a defined recipient IBAN.
Payment order
A payment order is the formal instruction from the account holder to their bank to transfer a specific amount to a defined recipient. It contains all the necessary information: amount, currency, recipient's IBAN, BIC (for international payments), and payment reference or reference number.
In digital payment transactions, payment orders are transmitted to the bank as XML files in ISO 20022 format (pain.001). Modern ERP and accounting systems can automatically generate and send payment orders to the bank — without manual typing in e-banking.
For merchants, the payment order is particularly relevant in the B2B context when paying supplier invoices. In the e-commerce context (payment receipt), the payment order is the action taken by your customers — they trigger the transfer in their e-banking, for example after receiving a QR-bill.
Payment order examples
A company creates a payment order for 15 supplier invoices in Bexio and transmits it to the bank as a pain.001 file.
A customer scans the QR-bill of an online shop and triggers the payment order in her banking app.
An e-banking system executes the payment order and transfers CHF 3'500 to the supplier — with a reference number for automatic reconciliation.
Payment order FAQ
What is a payment order?
A payment order is the instruction to your bank to transfer a specific amount to a defined recipient. It contains the amount, IBAN, reference and purpose of payment.
What is a pain.001 file?
pain.001 is the ISO 20022 format for payment orders. ERP and accounting systems can generate payment orders as a pain.001 file and transmit them directly to your bank — without manual e-banking.
How long does it take to process a payment order?
Within Switzerland (SIC), a payment order is usually executed on the same or the next banking business day. SEPA transfers take 1 banking business day, international transfers 2–5 days.
Can you cancel a payment order?
A payment order can be cancelled as long as it has not yet been executed. Once executed, cancellation is no longer possible — the amount must then be transferred back by the recipient.
