Imagine this: you make an international payment, everything seems to be going well, but a few days later you get a message that the payment has been declined. The reason? The address was not structured properly. This is exactly what the new SEPA address structure is all about. To ensure that payments are processed smoothly and correctly, addresses must be entered in a specific way.
What is SEPA?
SEPA, the Single Euro Payments Area, is an initiative of the European Union and has been ensuring euro payments within Europe run smoothly for years. Whether you're transferring money to a supplier in Germany or paying a customer in France, thanks to SEPA, it's as easy as a domestic payment.
Yet something important is about to happen. Starting in November 2025, SEPA will officially switch to ISO 20022: an international standard for exchanging financial data. This switch, also known as SEPA 2.0, has direct implications for how organizations store, process and share address data with banks and systems.
What exactly is changing?
Until now, addresses were often stored as a single block of text. Think of: โKeizersgracht 123, 1015 CJ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.โ Useful for people, but not for systems.
ISO 20022 requires a new, structured approach: each item, such as street name, house number, zip code, city and country, must be in a separate field. Only then can banks, systems and data profiles process and verify the information correctly.
Why this change is important
The benefits of a structured address approach are significant. You reduce the risk of errors or delays in payments because systems can interpret data better. International transactions are processed faster, which is especially valuable for companies with foreign customers or suppliers. It also helps protect against fraud because data is easier to verify.
Not to mention, it also helps you comply with increasingly stringent European regulations. Finally, the overall quality of your data improves, which in turn strengthens internal processes and gets more value out of your systems. For organizations operating internationally, this is not a nice-to-have, but an absolute must.
Time to take action
Starting in November 2025, more than 40 countries in Europe must comply with the new SEPA 2.0 guidelines. That means now is the time to prepare so that your systems, data sources and processes are compliant on time.
Start by checking that your address data is complete and structured according to the new requirements. Where necessary, adjust your CRM, ERP and payment systems to ensure they process address data correctly. Also make sure that new data is automatically saved in the correct format. This will help you avoid delays, rejections or compliance issues and make sure your organization is ready for the future of international payments.
Conclusion
The introduction of SEPA 2.0 is nearer than you think and brings concrete action points for every organization that makes payments across borders. By putting your address data in order and adapting your systems to the ISO 20022 standard, you can avoid errors, save time and comply with the new European rules. The impact is great, but so are the benefits: faster payments, better data and more control over international transactions. If you start now, you will have plenty of time to implement the changes and make mistakes, so that in November 2025, when SEPA 2.0 takes effect, you will have a watertight process.
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