pain.002 reason codes — SEPA payment status reason codes (ISO 20022)

Name: pain.002 reason codes — SEPA payment status reason codes (ISO 20022)
Creator: ISO 20022 RA
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

When a SEPA credit transfer (pain.001) or direct debit (pain.008) is rejected, the bank returns a pain.002 status report carrying a reason code such as AC04 (closed account), AM04 (insufficient funds) or MD01 (no valid mandate). This list decodes each code into what it means and whether the payment can be fixed and resubmitted or is final.

pain.002 reason codes (SEPA payment status reason codes (ISO 20022))

ISO 20022 36 codes ISO 20022 RA

Overview

When it is used

Read the reason code on a pain.002 reject to know the next action — correct and resubmit (recoverable) or stop and contact the counterparty (final). ValidateFin’s pain.002 reader applies exactly this list.

Official source: ISO 20022 External Code Sets — ExternalStatusReason1Code Last verified: 2026-07-10License: CC-BY-4.0

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Account (8)

Code	Meaning
AC01	Incorrect account numberRecoverableThe creditor IBAN is malformed or wrong (recoverable) - check it digit by digit with the beneficiary, correct it and resubmit the payment.
AC02	Invalid debtor accountRecoverableYour own debit account is invalid (recoverable) - verify the ordering account IBAN in your file, fix it and resubmit.
AC03	Invalid creditor accountRecoverableThe beneficiary account is invalid (recoverable) - confirm the correct IBAN with the beneficiary, update it and resubmit the payment.
AC04	Account closedFinalThe beneficiary account is closed (final) - resubmitting will not work; contact the beneficiary to obtain a new account number and issue a fresh payment.
AC06	Account blockedFinalThe beneficiary account is blocked (final) - resubmitting will not help; ask the beneficiary to provide an alternative account before paying again.
AC13	Debtor is a consumer accountFinalThe debit account is a personal account but a business account is required (final) - resubmitting is pointless; route the payment from a proper business account.
AC14	Invalid creditor account typeRecoverableThe beneficiary account type is not accepted for this payment (recoverable) - check with the beneficiary which account type to use, correct it and resubmit.
AC16	Account being closedFinalThe beneficiary account is in the process of closing (final) - resubmitting will fail; obtain a new account number from the beneficiary and pay to that instead.

Amount (4)

Code	Meaning
AM04	Insufficient fundsRecoverableYour account lacked the funds to cover this payment (recoverable) - top up the account or wait for sufficient balance, then resubmit the payment.
AM05	Duplicate transactionFinalThe bank detected this as a duplicate of a payment already processed (final) - do not resubmit; verify the original payment went through before taking any further action.
AM09	Wrong amountRecoverableThe payment amount is invalid or inconsistent (recoverable) - correct the amount in your file, make sure it matches the invoice, and resubmit.
AM18	Invalid number of transactionsRecoverableThe transaction count in the file does not match its contents (recoverable) - regenerate the file so the declared count equals the actual number of transactions, then resubmit.

Mandate (4)

Code	Meaning
MD01	No valid mandateFinalThere is no valid direct debit mandate for this collection (final) - do not resubmit; obtain a signed mandate from the debtor before attempting to collect again.
MD02	Missing mandate informationRecoverableRequired mandate details are missing (recoverable) - complete the mandate reference, signature date and debtor details in your file and resubmit.
MD06	Refund requested by debtorFinalThe debtor requested a refund of this direct debit (final) - resubmitting is not allowed; contact the debtor to resolve the dispute before any new collection.
MD07	Account holder deceasedFinalThe account holder is deceased (final) - do not resubmit; direct any outstanding claim to the estate or executor through the appropriate legal channel.

Reference / identifiers (5)

Code	Meaning
RC01	Incorrect BICRecoverableThe bank identifier (BIC) is incorrect (recoverable) - verify the beneficiary BIC against the IBAN, correct it and resubmit the payment.
RC03	Invalid debtor bank IDRecoverableYour own bank identifier is invalid (recoverable) - check the ordering bank BIC in your file, correct it and resubmit.
RC04	Invalid creditor bank IDRecoverableThe beneficiary bank identifier is invalid (recoverable) - confirm the correct BIC for the beneficiary bank, update it and resubmit the payment.
BE04	Missing creditor addressRecoverableThe beneficiary address is required and missing (recoverable) - add the complete creditor address to your file and resubmit the payment.
BE05	Unrecognised initiating partyRecoverableThe bank does not recognise the party that initiated the file (recoverable) - check the Initiating Party identifier matches the one registered with your bank, correct it and resubmit.

Regulatory (6)

Code	Meaning
AG01	Transaction forbiddenFinalThis type of operation is not permitted on the account (final) - resubmitting will not help; check with the bank which payment types the account allows, or use a different account.
AG02	Invalid operation codeRecoverableThe bank operation or instrument code is invalid (recoverable) - correct the operation code or scheme in your file to a value the bank accepts and resubmit.
RR01	Missing debtor account or IDRecoverableRegulatory information about the debtor account or identifier is missing (recoverable) - add the required debtor account or identification data to your file and resubmit.
RR02	Missing debtor name or addressRecoverableThe debtor name or address required by regulation is missing (recoverable) - complete the ordering party name and full address in your file and resubmit.
RR03	Missing creditor name or addressRecoverableThe beneficiary name or address required by regulation is missing (recoverable) - add the full creditor name and address to your file and resubmit.
RR04	Regulatory reasonFinalThe payment was rejected for a regulatory reason (final) - resubmitting as-is will not work; consult your bank or compliance team to understand the requirement before any new attempt.

Technical / format (5)

Code	Meaning
FF01	Invalid file formatRecoverableThe file format is invalid or does not match the expected schema (recoverable) - fix the structure to comply with the required pain schema version and resubmit.
FF05	Invalid local instrumentRecoverableThe local instrument code (e.g. CORE, B2B) is invalid for this scheme (recoverable) - set a valid local instrument matching your product, then resubmit.
DT01	Invalid dateRecoverableA date in the file is invalid, in the past or not a business day (recoverable) - set a valid future requested execution date and resubmit.
DU01	Duplicate message IDRecoverableThe message ID has already been used (recoverable) - generate a new, unique Message Identification for the file and resubmit.
NARR	See bank narrativeFinalThe bank gave a free-text reason instead of a standard code (final) - read the narrative text supplied by the bank to understand what is required, as no generic retry applies.

Other (4)

Code	Meaning
CUST	Cancelled by customerFinalThe payment was cancelled at the customer's request (final) - do not resubmit; only initiate a new payment if the cancellation was a mistake and the customer confirms.
MS02	Reason not given by customerFinalThe debtor gave no reason for the refusal (final) - resubmitting will not clarify anything; contact the debtor directly to find out why the payment was refused.
MS03	Reason not given by bankFinalThe bank gave no specific reason for the rejection (final) - resubmitting blindly will likely fail again; contact your bank to obtain the actual reason before retrying.
SL01	Specific service offeredFinalThe transaction was stopped due to a specific service agreed on the account (e.g. a debtor filter or block) (final) - resubmitting will not bypass it; contact the account holder or bank to adjust the service settings.

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