QR-IBAN: what it is, and do you really need one?

The SIX Implementation Guidelines describe the QR-IID as derived from the institution identification (IID), consisting “exclusively of numbers from 30000 to 31999”. For payments with a structured QR reference, “the QR-IBAN must be used to indicate the account to be credited”; its formal structure follows the ISO 13616 standard for the IBAN, it “can only be used for incoming payments”, and it contains the QR-IID of the bank that keeps the account (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapters 2.8 and 2.10).

Same account, two numbers: BLKB writes that the IBAN and the QR-IBAN are linked to the same account. Banks remain free in how they build the number: SIX recommends a 1:1 relationship between the IBAN and the QR-IBAN without imposing it, “a QR-IBAN does not necessarily have to be based on the IBAN”, and each bank decides whether an account is associated with one or more QR-IBANs (Technical information about the QR-IID and QR-IBAN, section 3.2). Raiffeisen, for example, offers a “Multiple QR-IBAN” option, with several QR-IBANs linked to one central IBAN for companies whose departments invoice separately, and at PostFinance every “virtual account” (digits 10 to 12 other than 000) is a valid QR-IBAN.

Historically, the QR-IBAN replaced the ISR participant number as the marker of the payment procedure with a reference (BLKB FAQ, 09/22): the QR-bill with QR-IBAN and QR reference took the place of the orange payment slip, the one with an IBAN and no reference the place of the red payment slip.

To issue a valid QR-bill, no. With your normal IBAN, the payment slip goes out without a reference, and your customer identifies the invoice through the message (for example “Invoice 2026-0014”), or with an RF reference; banks process it like any other QR-bill.

A QR-IBAN is for one thing: automatic reconciliation. With a QR reference, each incoming payment comes back in your electronic statements (camt.053 or camt.054) with its reference, and your accounting software links it to the invoice on its own. In Fele-facture, from the Independent plan (and during the trial), “🏦 Payments received” reads your camt.053/054 or CSV statement on your device and suggests which invoices have been paid: by the QR reference with a QR-IBAN, by the invoice number in the message with a normal IBAN; it is not a connection to your bank. Other Swiss tools with bank import or bank connection are compared, with their prices, on our page invoicing software in Switzerland. This becomes useful above a certain number of invoices. BLKB recommends the QR-IBAN with QR reference for invoicing within Switzerland: a bank recommendation, not an obligation. For the invoices that remain open, see unpaid invoice in Switzerland.

There is an alternative without a QR-IBAN: the RF reference (Creditor Reference, ISO 11649) “also enables the creditor to compare their invoices and incoming payments automatically”, with the normal IBAN, in Swiss francs and in euros (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapter 4.3.2).

If you used to invoice with ISR payment slips: UBS writes that customers who already used a BESR-ID should have received a letter with their QR-IBAN in the second quarter of 2020; PostFinance writes that you have received your QR-IBAN from it (see our PostFinance guide); BLKB advises keeping your old six-digit BESR-ID in the QR reference, so that your references stay the same as on the orange payment slip. If in doubt, your e-banking or your adviser will tell you.

The standard knows only three combinations of account and reference, and version 2.4 allows no other: IBAN only with “SCOR” or “NON”, QR-IBAN with “QRR” (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapters 4.2.2, 4.3.2 and 7.1).

Two details. PostFinance describes the RF reference as “RF” followed by five to 25 characters; the standard counts 5 to 25 characters in total, “RF” and the check digits included, and the standard prevails. Banks draw no distinction between upper and lower case when processing the reference (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapter 4.2.2).

A QR-IBAN only receives. When it is used, “a QR reference must always be sent with the payment”, and in e-banking “entering the QR reference is mandatory where a QR-IBAN is used”; payments can only be debited from an IBAN, and a biller cannot use a QR-IBAN alone (Technical information, sections 3.1, 3.3.1 and 3.4.1). In practice: on your letterhead, in your e-mail signature and on a quote, give your normal IBAN.

Where to look first: in the account details of your e-banking at BLKB and LUKB; in e-banking at Raiffeisen (Raiffeisen does not say which menu); in the UBS QR-Portal, under “Other tools” > “QR-IBAN and references”, which lets you “generate the corresponding QR-IBAN based on your IBAN”; at PostFinance, ask your customer advisor if you do not know it.

Only your bank can give you your QR-IBAN. Some show it in their e-banking or portal, like UBS from your IBAN. SIX offers no calculation: “since the allocation of QR-IBAN is reserved exclusively for banks, no function is offered for generating QR-IBANs from conventional IBANs” (Technical information, section 4), and to the question “Can I convert my IBAN into a QR-IBAN?” its IBAN checker answers “No, that’s not possible.” A calculator outside your bank is not authoritative: even when the account number stays the same, changing the IID also changes the two check digits.

What does it cost? None of the banks we checked (PostFinance, UBS, Raiffeisen, LUKB, BLKB) shows a fee for obtaining a QR-IBAN. Incoming payments follow the prices of the account: at PostFinance, national electronic transfers are included in the account management fee up to 60,000 per year, sent and received, across the whole customer relationship (CHF 0.12 per transfer from 60,001 to 100,000, on request above that), and inpayments at the counter are charged to the payment recipient; UBS refers to its price lists, LUKB to its “Dienstleistungspreise” brochures. Ask your bank for its conditions.

The reference prefix set by UBS has a basis in the standard: “in consultation with the invoice issuer’s financial institutions”, the first digits of the reference “can be used as an additional criterion for grouping payment receipts” (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapter 4.3.2). UBS does not say what happens if the ID is missing: ask UBS.

The Implementation Guidelines 2.4 are dated 24 February 2026, are valid from 14 November 2026 and are tied to the SIC release of 13 November 2026 (title page and general notes). According to SIX, version 2.4 “does not result in any technical adjustments for invoicing in Swiss francs (CHF). For invoicing in euros (EUR), only the combination IBAN/SCOR reference and IBAN/unstructured message is possible.” The QR reference can be used “for invoicing in CHF” (chapter 2.12.1), and the QR-IBAN with it (chapter 2.10).

Version 2.3, of 21 November 2025, “remains valid until November 2027”, according to the same document. The reason is the discontinuation of euroSIC, the euro clearing system: its last clearing day is Friday, 31 December 2027 (SIX info hub). After that, for invoicing in EUR, “settlement will take place after the discontinuation of euroSIC in accordance with the bank's offer, for example as a SEPA Credit Transfer”, and SIX warns that data transfer is not guaranteed: in euros, a message sent together with a structured reference does not always reach the creditor (Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapters 1.1 and 4.3.3, note 3).

In practice: for any invoice in euros, use your normal IBAN, with an RF reference or with no reference. This combination is valid under both versions, 2.3 and 2.4. A QR-IBAN on an invoice in euros is a practice to drop: version 2.4 no longer allows it, and version 2.3, which still did, only remains valid until November 2027.

The mistakes that make the payment or the reconciliation fail: combining a QR-IBAN with an RF reference, or a normal IBAN with a 27-digit QR reference (combination not allowed, Implementation Guidelines 2.4, chapter 7.1); putting a QR-IBAN on an invoice in euros drawn up under version 2.4; giving your QR-IBAN for an ordinary transfer, which your customer cannot enter without a reference; making up a QR-IBAN with a third-party calculator or reusing the one of another account; a QR reference made up only of zeros (chapter 2.12.1); at UBS, a QR reference that does not start with the six-digit ID assigned by the bank, whose consequence UBS does not state.

What the app does, according to its code. The QR payment slip is added when the plan includes it (Independent or Unlimited, or the 14-day trial, granted once per IBAN), with a valid CH or LI IBAN, your name, your postcode and your town, an amount due above zero, and a document that is neither a quote nor a receipt. With a normal IBAN: no reference (type NON) and a message with the invoice number, 140 characters at most. With a QR-IBAN: a QR reference built from the digits of the invoice number, padded with zeros on the left, with the check digit.

Reference prefix set by the bank: as soon as a QR-IBAN is entered in Settings › My business, a field for the reference prefix set by your bank appears. With a UBS QR-IBAN, enter your six-digit ID there: every QR reference then starts with it, followed by the invoice number and the check digit. Left empty, the reference starts from the invoice number alone. The app's invoices are in Swiss francs (CHF): the version 2.4 rule that reserves the QR-IBAN for francs does not affect them. The app's invoices do not carry an RF reference.

The free QR payment slip generator, without an account, accepts a valid RF reference with a normal IBAN, refuses a QR-IBAN in EUR, requires a reference with a QR-IBAN and turns free digits into a valid QR reference; if you type the full 26- or 27-digit reference starting with your bank's ID, it keeps it as it is. For the full invoice: creating a Swiss QR-bill and the structured address dates; for printing, the guide to printing a QR-bill on perforated paper. Plans: the Free plan creates 5 invoices or quotes per month without the QR payment slip; the QR-bill is included from the Independent plan (CHF 15/month); Unlimited costs CHF 29/month; a full 14-day trial without a card starts when you enter your Swiss or Liechtenstein IBAN.