The Swiss QR-bill — Switzerland's own payment code, not an EPC QR

What it is

Since 30 September 2022, Swiss invoices carry the QR-bill: on that date the old orange and red payment slips (Einzahlungsscheine) were withdrawn, making the QR-bill the standard way to bill in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It was designed by the Swiss financial centre (specifications published by SIX) for the domestic payment system — it is not an EPC QR code, and the two cannot substitute for each other.

You recognise one instantly: a QR code with a small Swiss cross in the centre, sitting inside a structured "payment part" slip at the bottom of the invoice, with the amount, payable-to and reference printed as text around it in a fixed layout.

What is inside

The payload is the Swiss Payments Code — a line-based text format that begins with the header SPC. Alongside the creditor's name and address it carries two fields with no EPC equivalent:

• QR-IBAN. A special IBAN whose institution identifier falls in the range reserved for QR payments (30000–31999). A QR-IBAN must be used together with a QR reference; a normal IBAN is used with a creditor reference or no reference.
• QR reference. A 27-character numeric reference (26 digits plus a check digit), the successor to the old ISR reference, which lets the biller reconcile every incoming payment automatically. Alternatively an ISO 11649 creditor reference (RF...) can be used with a normal IBAN.

The printed payment part has fixed dimensions: the code itself is specified at 46 × 46 mm in print, inside an A6-format payment slip, so scanning is reliable across every banking app and at the post office counter.

QR-bill vs EPC QR

	Swiss QR-bill	EPC QR (Girocode)
Region	Switzerland, Liechtenstein	SEPA / eurozone
Payload header	SPC	BCD
Visual	Swiss cross in centre, fixed slip layout	Plain QR, free layout
Print size	Fixed 46 × 46 mm	Free choice
Reference	27-char QR reference or ISO 11649	ISO 11649 or unstructured text
Account	QR-IBAN or IBAN	IBAN
Currencies	CHF, EUR	EUR
Status	Standard for Swiss invoices	Optional convenience

A Swiss banking app will not pay a Girocode slip, and a German app will not parse an SPC payload. If you invoice both Swiss and EU customers, you need both — the invoice QR overview covers choosing per customer.

Generating one — honest advice

UseQR does not generate Swiss QR-bills, and a bare QR generator is the wrong tool for them anyway: the standard specifies not just the payload but the whole payment part — layout, fonts, the cross overlay, perforation rules for paper invoices. Producing a compliant QR-bill means producing that entire slip.

Use your bank's invoicing tools or Swiss invoicing software, which generate the payment part correctly and validate the QR reference check digit. What you can do with general tools is verify: decode a QR-bill with /validate to inspect the SPC payload, and check the printed code meets ordinary print quality rules — contrast, quiet zone, no scaling artefacts — before an invoice run.

FAQ

Is the Swiss QR-bill the same as an EPC or Girocode QR?

No. The QR-bill uses the SPC payload with a Swiss cross overlay and a fixed slip layout; EPC uses the BCD twelve-line payload. Swiss and eurozone banking apps each read only their own format.

When did the QR-bill become mandatory?

The old orange and red payment slips were withdrawn on 30 September 2022. Since then the QR-bill has been the standard payment slip on Swiss and Liechtenstein invoices.

What is a QR-IBAN?

An IBAN whose institution identifier falls in the range reserved for QR payments (30000–31999). It signals that the payment must carry a 27-character QR reference, which is what enables automatic reconciliation for the biller.

Can I make a Swiss QR-bill with a free QR generator?

Not compliantly. The standard covers the whole payment part — layout, Swiss cross, reference check digit — not just the code. Use your bank or Swiss invoicing software, and use general QR tools only to verify the result scans.