ValidateFin

pain.008.001.02 — NbOfTxs and CtrlSum wrong at both levels

A SEPA direct debit that miscounts and mis-sums itself, at both levels at once: the batch really holds 2 collections worth 300.00 EUR, but NbOfTxs says 3 and CtrlSum says 250.00 — in the PmtInf and again in the GrpHdr. That is four errors, not two: control totals are checked on the payment batch and on the file header, because a multi-batch file can carry a correct header total sitting on top of two wrong batch totals. The XML is well-formed and the official XSD accepts it: NbOfTxs and CtrlSum are just numbers to a schema.

pain.008.001.02 — Invalid

A SEPA direct debit that miscounts and mis-sums itself, at both levels at once: the batch really holds 2 collections worth 300.00 EUR, but NbOfTxs says 3 and CtrlSum says 250.00 — in the PmtInf and again in the GrpHdr. That is four errors, not two: control totals are checked on the payment batch and on the file header, because a multi-batch file can carry a correct header total sitting on top of two wrong batch totals. The XML is well-formed and the official XSD accepts it: NbOfTxs and CtrlSum are just numbers to a schema.

SEPA Direct Debit (pain.008) pain.008.001.02 ISO 20022 / SDD COREExpected result: Invalid — 4 errors

What this file shows

A SEPA direct debit that miscounts and mis-sums itself, at both levels at once: the batch really holds 2 collections worth 300.00 EUR, but NbOfTxs says 3 and CtrlSum says 250.00 — in the PmtInf and again in the GrpHdr. That is four errors, not two: control totals are checked on the payment batch and on the file header, because a multi-batch file can carry a correct header total sitting on top of two wrong batch totals. The XML is well-formed and the official XSD accepts it: NbOfTxs and CtrlSum are just numbers to a schema.

Transactions2
Total€300.00
SchemeCORE
Date in the file2026-03-10

The defects it carries

  • CtrlSumPmtInf CtrlSum mismatch: a payment batch declares 250.00 but its transactions total 300.00.
  • NbOfTxsPmtInf NbOfTxs mismatch: a payment batch declares 3 but contains 2 transactions.
  • CtrlSumCtrlSum mismatch: header declares 250.00 but calculated total is 300.00.
  • NbOfTxsNbOfTxs mismatch: header declares 3 but found 2 transactions.

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 Direct Debit, pain.008.001.02, BROKEN ON PURPOSE.
  Expected validation result: INVALID — both control totals lie, at both levels.

  The batch really contains 2 collections adding up to 300.00 EUR, but NbOfTxs says 3
  and CtrlSum says 250.00 — in the PmtInf AND in the GrpHdr. That is four errors, not
  two: the totals are checked on the payment batch and again on the file header, and a
  file with several batches can very well have a correct header total sitting on top of
  two batches whose own totals are wrong.

  This is the classic symptom of a payment file assembled in a loop where one record
  was dropped after the header was written. The XML is well-formed and the official XSD
  accepts it: NbOfTxs and CtrlSum are just numbers to a schema.

  All parties and account numbers are fictitious.
  Reference page: https://validatefin.com/en/resources/samples/sepa-pain008-invalid-totals
  License: CC-BY-4.0
-->
<Document xmlns="urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:pain.008.001.02"
          xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <CstmrDrctDbtInitn>
    <GrpHdr>
      <MsgId>SDD-BADTOTALS-20260302</MsgId>
      <CreDtTm>2026-03-02T11:00:00</CreDtTm>
      <NbOfTxs>3</NbOfTxs>
      <CtrlSum>250.00</CtrlSum>
      <InitgPty>
        <Nm>Editions Lumiere SARL</Nm>
      </InitgPty>
    </GrpHdr>
    <PmtInf>
      <PmtInfId>PMT-SDD-BADTOTALS-001</PmtInfId>
      <PmtMtd>DD</PmtMtd>
      <NbOfTxs>3</NbOfTxs>
      <CtrlSum>250.00</CtrlSum>
      <PmtTpInf>
        <SvcLvl>
          <Cd>SEPA</Cd>
        </SvcLvl>
        <LclInstrm>
          <Cd>CORE</Cd>
        </LclInstrm>
        <SeqTp>RCUR</SeqTp>
      </PmtTpInf>
      <ReqdColltnDt>2026-03-10</ReqdColltnDt>
      <Cdtr>
        <Nm>Editions Lumiere SARL</Nm>
        <PstlAdr>
          <TwnNm>Paris</TwnNm>
          <Ctry>FR</Ctry>
        </PstlAdr>
      </Cdtr>
      <CdtrAcct>
        <Id>
          <IBAN>FR7610107001011234567890129</IBAN>
        </Id>
        <Ccy>EUR</Ccy>
      </CdtrAcct>
      <CdtrAgt>
        <FinInstnId>
          <BIC>CCBPFRPP</BIC>
        </FinInstnId>
      </CdtrAgt>
      <ChrgBr>SLEV</ChrgBr>
      <CdtrSchmeId>
        <Id>
          <PrvtId>
            <Othr>
              <Id>FR72ZZZ123456</Id>
              <SchmeNm>
                <Prtry>SEPA</Prtry>
              </SchmeNm>
            </Othr>
          </PrvtId>
        </Id>
      </CdtrSchmeId>
      <DrctDbtTxInf>
        <PmtId>
          <EndToEndId>E2E-BADTOTALS-2026-0301</EndToEndId>
        </PmtId>
        <InstdAmt Ccy="EUR">180.00</InstdAmt>
        <DrctDbtTx>
          <MndtRltdInf>
            <MndtId>MNDT-2024-000731</MndtId>
            <DtOfSgntr>2024-09-12</DtOfSgntr>
            <AmdmntInd>false</AmdmntInd>
          </MndtRltdInf>
        </DrctDbtTx>
        <DbtrAgt>
          <FinInstnId>
            <BIC>PSSTFRPP</BIC>
          </FinInstnId>
        </DbtrAgt>
        <Dbtr>
          <Nm>Camille Rousseau</Nm>
          <PstlAdr>
            <TwnNm>Lyon</TwnNm>
            <Ctry>FR</Ctry>
          </PstlAdr>
        </Dbtr>
        <DbtrAcct>
          <Id>
            <IBAN>FR1420041010050500013M02606</IBAN>
          </Id>
        </DbtrAcct>
        <RmtInf>
          <Ustrd>Abonnement annuel 2026 - facture AB-2026-0731</Ustrd>
        </RmtInf>
      </DrctDbtTxInf>
      <DrctDbtTxInf>
        <PmtId>
          <EndToEndId>E2E-BADTOTALS-2026-0302</EndToEndId>
        </PmtId>
        <InstdAmt Ccy="EUR">120.00</InstdAmt>
        <DrctDbtTx>
          <MndtRltdInf>
            <MndtId>MNDT-2025-001188</MndtId>
            <DtOfSgntr>2025-01-20</DtOfSgntr>
            <AmdmntInd>false</AmdmntInd>
          </MndtRltdInf>
        </DrctDbtTx>
        <DbtrAgt>
          <FinInstnId>
            <BIC>GEBABEBB</BIC>
          </FinInstnId>
        </DbtrAgt>
        <Dbtr>
          <Nm>Bureau Verhoeven BVBA</Nm>
          <PstlAdr>
            <TwnNm>Gent</TwnNm>
            <Ctry>BE</Ctry>
          </PstlAdr>
        </Dbtr>
        <DbtrAcct>
          <Id>
            <IBAN>BE68539007547034</IBAN>
          </Id>
        </DbtrAcct>
        <RmtInf>
          <Ustrd>Abonnement annuel 2026 - facture AB-2026-0788</Ustrd>
        </RmtInf>
      </DrctDbtTxInf>
    </PmtInf>
  </CstmrDrctDbtInitn>
</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 Direct Debit (pain.008)

All sample fileshttps://validatefin.com/samples/sepa-pain008-invalid-totals.xml