ValidateFin

pain.001.001.03 — accent and ampersand outside the SEPA character set

A pain.001 whose creditor is named "Café Renard & Fils SARL" — an accented letter and an ampersand, both outside the EPC-approved basic Latin character set (a-z A-Z 0-9 and / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space). The XML is well-formed and the official XSD accepts it happily: Max70Text takes any string. This defect lives purely in the rulebook layer, which is precisely why files like it reach the bank and are rejected or silently transliterated there.

pain.001.001.03 — Invalid

A pain.001 whose creditor is named "Café Renard & Fils SARL" — an accented letter and an ampersand, both outside the EPC-approved basic Latin character set (a-z A-Z 0-9 and / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space). The XML is well-formed and the official XSD accepts it happily: Max70Text takes any string. This defect lives purely in the rulebook layer, which is precisely why files like it reach the bank and are rejected or silently transliterated there.

SEPA Credit Transfer (pain.001) pain.001.001.03 ISO 20022 / EPC basic Latin setExpected result: Invalid — 1 errors

What this file shows

A pain.001 whose creditor is named "Café Renard & Fils SARL" — an accented letter and an ampersand, both outside the EPC-approved basic Latin character set (a-z A-Z 0-9 and / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space). The XML is well-formed and the official XSD accepts it happily: Max70Text takes any string. This defect lives purely in the rulebook layer, which is precisely why files like it reach the bank and are rejected or silently transliterated there.

Transactions1
Total€250.00
SchemeSEPA
Date in the file2026-03-06

The defects it carries

  • CharsetNon-SEPA character(s) in creditor name for "Café Renard & Fils SARL": é &. Allowed: a-z A-Z 0-9 / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space.

Quoted verbatim from the validator, not paraphrased.

Last verified: License: CC-BY-4.0
Download the file Open the matching validator

Every party, IBAN and amount below is fictitious. The IBANs are structurally valid — they pass the mod-97 check — but they belong to no real account.

File content

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
  ValidateFin sample file — SEPA Credit Transfer, pain.001.001.03, BROKEN ON PURPOSE.
  Expected validation result: INVALID — the creditor name leaves the basic SEPA
  character set.

  The EPC-approved Latin character set is: a-z A-Z 0-9 and / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space.
  The creditor here is "Cafe Renard & Fils SARL" spelled with an accented "e" and an
  ampersand, both of which are outside it. The XML is perfectly well-formed and the
  official XSD accepts it (Max70Text takes any string) — this defect lives entirely in
  the EPC rulebook layer, which is exactly why files like this reach the bank and are
  rejected or silently transliterated there.

  All parties and account numbers are fictitious.
  Reference page: https://validatefin.com/en/resources/samples/sepa-pain001-invalid-charset
  License: CC-BY-4.0
-->
<Document xmlns="urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:pain.001.001.03"
          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <CstmrCdtTrfInitn>
    <GrpHdr>
      <MsgId>CT-CHARSET-2026-0001</MsgId>
      <CreDtTm>2026-03-02T08:30:00</CreDtTm>
      <NbOfTxs>1</NbOfTxs>
      <CtrlSum>250.00</CtrlSum>
      <InitgPty>
        <Nm>ACME Corporation SA</Nm>
      </InitgPty>
    </GrpHdr>
    <PmtInf>
      <PmtInfId>PMT-CHARSET-20260302</PmtInfId>
      <PmtMtd>TRF</PmtMtd>
      <NbOfTxs>1</NbOfTxs>
      <CtrlSum>250.00</CtrlSum>
      <PmtTpInf>
        <SvcLvl>
          <Cd>SEPA</Cd>
        </SvcLvl>
      </PmtTpInf>
      <ReqdExctnDt>2026-03-06</ReqdExctnDt>
      <Dbtr>
        <Nm>ACME Corporation SA</Nm>
      </Dbtr>
      <DbtrAcct>
        <Id>
          <IBAN>FR7630006000011234567890189</IBAN>
        </Id>
      </DbtrAcct>
      <DbtrAgt>
        <FinInstnId>
          <BIC>BNPAFRPP</BIC>
        </FinInstnId>
      </DbtrAgt>
      <CdtTrfTxInf>
        <PmtId>
          <EndToEndId>E2E-CHARSET-001</EndToEndId>
        </PmtId>
        <Amt>
          <InstdAmt Ccy="EUR">250.00</InstdAmt>
        </Amt>
        <CdtrAgt>
          <FinInstnId>
            <BIC>SOGEFRPP</BIC>
          </FinInstnId>
        </CdtrAgt>
        <Cdtr>
          <Nm>Café Renard &amp; Fils SARL</Nm>
        </Cdtr>
        <CdtrAcct>
          <Id>
            <IBAN>FR3314508600001234567890150</IBAN>
          </Id>
        </CdtrAcct>
        <RmtInf>
          <Ustrd>Facture CR-2026-0042 - restauration</Ustrd>
        </RmtInf>
      </CdtTrfTxInf>
    </PmtInf>
  </CstmrCdtTrfInitn>
</Document>

How we know these results hold

Every file in this library is run through the site's own validator on each build. The expected result stated above is asserted by an automated test — if a file stopped matching what this page claims, the build would fail. Two inherited fixtures were repaired this way before publication: three IBANs failed the mod-97 check and several names used characters outside the basic SEPA character set.

SEPA Credit Transfer (pain.001)

All sample fileshttps://validatefin.com/samples/sepa-pain001-invalid-charset.xml