Payment order
A payment order is the instruction given to a bank or a payment provider to transfer a specific amount to a defined recipient IBAN.
Payment order
A payment order is the formal instruction from the account holder to their bank to transfer a specific amount to a defined recipient. It contains all the necessary information: amount, currency, recipient IBAN, BIC (for international payments), and payment purpose or reference number.
In digital payment transactions, payment orders are transmitted to the bank as XML files in ISO 20022 format (pain.001). Modern ERP and accounting systems can automatically generate payment orders and send them to the bank — without manual entry in e-banking.
For merchants, the payment order is particularly relevant in the B2B context when paying supplier invoices. In the e-commerce context (receiving payments), the payment order is the action taken by the customer — they trigger the transfer in their e-banking, for example after receiving a QR-bill.
Payment order examples
A company creates a payment order for 15 supplier invoices in Bexio and transmits it as a pain.001 file to the bank.
A customer scans the QR-bill of an online shop and triggers the payment order in her banking app.
An e-banking system executes the payment order and transfers EUR 3'500 to the supplier — with a reference number for automatic reconciliation.
Payment order FAQ
What is a payment order?
A payment order is the instruction to your bank to transfer a specific amount to a defined recipient. It contains the amount, IBAN, reference, and purpose of payment.
What is a pain.001 file?
pain.001 is the ISO 20022 format for payment orders. ERP and accounting systems can generate payment orders as a pain.001 file and transmit them directly to the bank — without manual e-banking.
How long does the execution of a payment order take?
Within Switzerland (SIC), a payment order is usually executed on the same or next banking business day. SEPA transfers take 1 banking business day, international transfers 2–5 days.
Can I cancel a payment order?
A payment order can be cancelled as long as it has not yet been executed. Once executed, cancellation is no longer possible — the amount must then be transferred back by the recipient.
