Changes and reference reviews

20 September 2026 — EPC VoP rulebook version 1.1 takes effect

Scheme effective date. The EPC calendar records publication on 16 March 2026 and effectiveness on 20 September 2026.

Use this when: a provider refers to its VoP scheme version. This date is separate from the EU's statutory rollout and does not establish coverage for your bank. Interpret a payee-name response.

Source: EPC VoP evolution calendar.

September 2026 — Registry Release 103 identifies a Brazil update

Reference revision. Swift's document history identifies BR as the updated country in Release 103. The month is provided by the source; no specific day is stated.

Use this when: reviewing a Brazil-related validation rule against an older reference. We have not compared every field with Release 102. Brazil is outside BankCodeKit's 15 published national structure patterns, so a general checksum result is not a complete national review. Check the supported scope.

Source: Swift Registry Release 103, document history, page 6.

5 May 2026 — Serbia announces operational SCT payments

Operational announcement. The National Bank of Serbia announced readiness for SEPA Credit Transfer on 5 May. This is distinct from Serbia's geographical admission in 2025 and the earliest readiness date in the EPC calendar.

Use this when: comparing an older eligibility notice with a bank's current service. Ask the provider about the intended account and SCT route; this announcement does not establish SEPA Instant or direct-debit support. Check country scope.

Source: National Bank of Serbia, 5 May 2026.

9 October 2025 — euro-area payee-verification rollout

External rule rollout, recorded here on 3 October 2026. The European Commission's 10 October 2025 explanation describes free payee verification as part of the euro-area instant-payments changes. It is not a universal start date for all SEPA jurisdictions.

What this means: a name-match response comes from a payment provider, not from the IBAN checksum. The new name and IBAN mismatch guide explains what to check next.

Source checked 3 October 2026: European Commission rollout explanation, referring to Regulation (EU) 2024/886.

22 May 2025 — Serbia enters SEPA geographical scope

Admission decision. The EPC admitted Serbia and initially identified May 2026 as the earliest operational-readiness month.

Use this when: an old reference says Serbia is outside SEPA. Country admission permits eligible providers to apply; it does not make every bank operational on the admission date. Read the later SCT announcement.

Source: EPC Serbia admission notice.

6 March 2025 — Moldova and North Macedonia enter the scope

Admission decision. The EPC added both countries and set 5 October 2025 as their operational-readiness date.

Use this when: distinguishing the date of country inclusion from a provider's participation in a specific scheme. If a route is rejected, ask which receiving provider and scheme are supported. Work through a rejected SEPA route.

Source: EPC Moldova and North Macedonia notice.

21 November 2024 — Albania and Montenegro enter the scope

Admission decision with a later readiness milestone. The EPC admitted the two countries in 2024; its notice, updated on 15 January 2025, set readiness for 5 October 2025.

Use this when: a reference calls them “2025 additions.” State whether it means geographical admission or operational readiness. Those dates answer different questions about a proposed transfer.

Source: EPC Albania and Montenegro notice.

3 October 2026 — current EPC publication rechecked

Source-version check. The official list still presents version 8.0, issued 24 December 2025. Its date is a document publication date, not a new admission date for every listed country. Earlier v6.0/v7.0 differences are not reconstructed here without the original versions.

Source: EPC List of SEPA Scheme Countries v8.0. Read the current country reference.

1 October 2026 — IBAN reference review against Release 103

Completed source review; source publication month September 2026. Reviewed 89 country prefixes and lengths and the 15 national patterns and examples published on this site. The checked lengths and examples matched. Spain's two national check-digit positions are now shown separately.

What this means: Spanish segment displays distinguish both positions. This review did not add domestic check-digit algorithms or bank-assignment checks. It is not a claimed comparison of every change between Registry Releases 102 and 103.

Source: Swift IBAN Registry Release 103 - Sep 2026. Spain reference · Review evidence.

3 October 2026 — fixed IBAN test fixtures replace random generation

Website change, effective with this release. The existing test-tool address now offers one fixed example for each of ten countries. GB and NL use visibly marked TEST fixtures; the other eight values are existing published registry examples. No new random bank identifiers or account numbers are produced.

What this means: software tests can reproduce the same input. Source labels distinguish constructed fixtures from registry examples; neither kind is represented as a guaranteed unassigned account. Copied examples retain a TEST DATA label.

Open fixed test examples · Expected validation outcomes · Swift IBAN Registry Release 103 - Sep 2026, examples reviewed 2026-10-01.

3 October 2026 — invoice examples retain their test label

Website change, all supported currencies. Using either example button in the invoice formatter marks the output as TEST DATA — NOT A PAYMENT INSTRUCTION. Editing that block does not remove example mode; Clear starts a new block. Recognized catalog IBANs are also labeled when pasted manually. A BIC alone does not identify a test account.

What this means: a copied demonstration is easier to distinguish from a payment instruction. The marker is not a universal detector of every possible test account. Review the invoice formatter.

3 October 2026 — processing disclosures and browser restrictions

Website change, all pages. The privacy notice now identifies the actual email forwarding route and the absence of a configured automatic deletion schedule. Content Security Policy restricts scripts and connections, and HTTPS responses include a transport-security policy.

What this means: browser restrictions support the local-processing design, while email remains a separate activity. They do not protect copied files or guarantee legal compliance. Read Privacy, Security and Local Processing, and Terms.

2 October 2026 — country scope separated from transfer tracking

Website explanation change. The SEPA checker and transfer-status guide distinguish country scope, provider participation and a particular transfer's progress. They provide no live payment tracking.

What this means: use your sending provider's transaction record for a missing transfer; a country's inclusion in SEPA cannot show whether funds arrived. Country reference: EPC List of SEPA Scheme Countries v8.0, reviewed 2026-10-01. Read the transfer-status guide.