Used by 700,000+ people

Free EPC QR code generator.

Put a SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) credit transfer on your invoices as a QR code. The payer's banking app reads beneficiary, account number and amount from it.

Create barcode → No credit card required

EPC QR code with a SEPA credit transfer of 1,456.89 euros to Max Mustermann, IBAN AT68 2011 1310 3242 3628, payment note Invoice 4711 — Example: 1,456.89 euros to the sample beneficiary Max Mustermann, with the payment note “Invoice 4711”

How to create an EPC QR code

01
Enter your name and IBAN

Enter your name as beneficiary and your IBAN. The generator writes version 002, where the BIC (Business Identifier Code) is needed only if a bank outside the European Economic Area (EEA) takes part.
02
Add the amount and a reference or a note

Enter the amount in euros, such as 1456.89, or leave it to the payer. Add an RF creditor reference or a short note, such as the invoice number, to match the payment, but not both.
03
Size it, leave a 4-module margin, test

Take the size from national guidelines, such as about 25 × 25 mm on German invoices. By default, the downloaded image ends at the outer modules: leave 4 module widths free in your layout, then test a printout with your customers' banking apps.

What an EPC QR code is

An EPC QR code is a QR code for SEPA credit transfers, defined by the European Payments Council (EPC) in its guideline EPC069-12. German savings banks call it GiroCode, and German and Austrian banking guidelines frame it with the words “Zahlen mit Code”. On an invoice, it spares the payer typing the IBAN (International Bank Account Number). The banking app fills in the SEPA credit transfer, and the payer checks and approves it.

Invoices, payment slips and donation forms

EPC069-12 is meant for documents that also show the payment data as plain text, such as paper or digital invoices. Some large Austrian billers, such as telecom and energy companies, print it on their payment slips.

Germany's banking guideline also allows it on transfer forms for donations, references and neutral payments. Austrian banks read it at branch self-service terminals as well as in their apps. For a code shown only at a till or online checkout, the EPC refers to its URL-based QR code, EPC024-22.

No typed IBAN, an intact reference, and the printed size

To-scale drawing of the sample: 37 × 37 modules of 0.5 mm (18.5 mm), a 4-module quiet zone of 2 mm, 22.5 mm overall.

Payers copy no IBAN by hand, so they cannot mistype it. EPC069-12 marks name, IBAN, BIC and reference as fixed, and SEPA banks forward the reference unaltered to you, ready for automatic matching.

The generator always encodes level M, which restores about 15% of the codewords: enough for slight stains and paper folds, says the Austrian definition. At 0.5 mm per module, the smallest Finance Finland recommends, the sample measures 18.5 mm, or 22.5 mm with its quiet zone. At the 69-module maximum, the code is 34.5 mm wide.

Downloads, Word mail merges and SAP invoice runs

Engineer at a test rig holding a printed barcode label, barcode software open on the monitor beside him.

The generator downloads PNG, GIF or JPG; SVG and higher print resolution come with a plan. TBarCode Office puts each invoice's code into Word mail merges, TBarCode SDK into .NET, ActiveX or DLL applications. In both, choose QR Code, code page UTF-8 and level M, and write line breaks as \n with escape sequences on.

TBarCode/SAPwin draws the code in printed SAPscript and Smart Forms, where SAP passes 70–255 characters per field, depending on the setup; longer data is split across fields. SAP's own PDF generator does not call it, so print PDFs through a Windows PDF printer.

EPC QR code at a glance

Type: QR Code (ISO/IEC 18004) with up to 12 lines of data
Defined by: EPC069-12 version 3.1 (2024), European Payments Council
Also known as: GiroCode (Germany); “Zahlen mit Code” frame (Germany, Austria)
Payment: SEPA credit transfer (SCT) in euros, 0.01–999,999,999.99
Required data: Beneficiary name and IBAN; BIC in version 001 or with non-EEA banks
Character sets: UTF-8 or ISO 8859-1, -2, -4, -5, -7, -10, -15
Error correction: Level M, about 15% of codewords restorable
Capacity: 331 bytes, up to version 13 (69 × 69 modules)
Quiet zone: 4 modules per side

The 12 lines of an EPC QR code

One element per line, in a fixed order; the examples are the EPC's own, for version 002.

Line	Content	Required	EPC example
1	Service tag `BCD`	Yes	`BCD`
2	Version `001` or `002`	Yes	`002`
3	Character set `1`–`8`; `1` = UTF-8	Yes	`2` (ISO 8859-1)
4	Identification `SCT`	Yes	`SCT`
5	BIC, 8 or 11 characters	In 001; in 002 with non-EEA banks	empty
6	Beneficiary name, up to 70 characters	Yes	`François D'Alsace S.A.`
7	IBAN, up to 34 characters	Yes	`FR1420041010050500013M02606`
8	`EUR` and amount, 0.01–999999999.99	No	`EUR12.3`
9	Purpose code, up to 4 characters	No	empty
10	Structured reference, up to 35 characters	No; only 10 or 11	empty
11	Remittance text, up to 140 characters	No; only 10 or 11	`Client:Marie Louise La Lune`
12	Information for the payer, up to 70 characters	No	none

A line feed (LF) or a carriage return plus line feed (CRLF) separates the lines. Empty elements keep their line, and nothing follows the last line with content, so the example ends after line 11.

The generator has no field for lines 9 and 12, so it cannot add the purpose code CHAR that Germany's banking guideline specifies for donation forms. It ends each code after the last line with content, as EPC069-12 requires. The German guideline recommends leaving line 12 unused.

An RF creditor reference is RF, two check digits and up to 21 letters or digits. To check the EPC's RF18539007547034, move RF18 to the end and replace R with 27 and F with 15. Divided by 97, 539007547034271518 leaves 1: the check digits are right.

Version 001 or 002

Version 001 requires the BIC. In version 002 it may stay empty unless a bank in a non-EEA SEPA country, such as Switzerland or the United Kingdom, takes part. The German and Belgian guidelines specify version 002.

Which countries and banks support it

Scanning is optional for banks under EPC069-12, so ask your bank, as the EPC advises. National banking bodies and banks report:

Country	Source	What it says
Austria	PSA Payment Services Austria	Banks' apps and branch self-service terminals read it.
Germany	German banking associations (2016); Sparkassen	Recommend it as an option on forms and invoices; the Sparkasse app reads it as GiroCode.
Belgium	Febelfin (2025)	Almost all banks' apps support it; national guideline from 1 February 2026, with the Belgian structured communication instead of the RF reference.
Finland	Finance Finland (2015)	Approved on credit transfer forms; each bank sets its own app schedule.
Netherlands	Dutch Payments Association	Some banks' apps read it; the association calls the standard outdated.

The SEPA credit transfer scheme covers 41 countries (EPC list, 2025). The Sparkasse app also pays codes on invoices from other SEPA countries.

Before you print: size, position and the “Zahlen mit Code” frame

National guidelines set the print size; EPC069-12 does not:

Country	Size	Position
Germany	About 25 × 25 mm on invoices, 15 × 15 mm on transfer forms	Invoice: top right corner preferred
Austria	Modules of 15–20 mil (0.38–0.51 mm); 0.4 mm on payment slips	Invoice: lower left or right edge
Belgium	At least 2 × 2 cm	On the invoice, not on the transfer form
Finland	Modules of 0.5 mm or more	Top right corner of the transfer form

Quiet zone and frame: keep 4 modules clear on every side. On invoices in Germany and Austria, a frame runs at that distance, with “Zahlen mit Code” on the right, sans serif, at least 7 pt.
Plain text: print the same data beside the code. On German payment slips, the printed text takes priority if the two differ.

Common mistakes in EPC QR code data

The generator checks none of the following, nor the IBAN's check digits:

Reference and payment note together. EPC069-12 allows only one of the two lines. Put the invoice number in one of them.
Too much text. EPC069-12 caps the payload at 331 bytes, a limit PSA bases on phone cameras. The generator writes UTF-8, where ä or é take two bytes each: shorten long names and notes.
Separators in the amount. The amount takes a dot as decimal sign and no thousands separators: type 1000.50 in the generator, not 1.000,50, which it misreads. The generator drops trailing zeros (EUR1000.5), as the German and Austrian guidelines ask.
Characters outside the allowed set. German banks may convert ü to u or ue, ß to s or ss and & to +; other characters can stop processing at the bank. Plain letters, digits, spaces and ' : ? , - ( + . ) / are safe.

EPC QR code or another payment code

Swiss QR Code ›

The Swiss QR Code on QR-bills pays into CH or LI IBANs, in francs or euros, and has a Swiss cross in the middle.

QR Code ›

A plain QR Code with a link leads to a store's payment page; the EPC QR code opens a ready transfer in the banking app.

Frequently asked questions

Learn more about EPC QR code.

Is GiroCode the same as an EPC QR code?

Yes. German savings banks call the QR code on invoices GiroCode, and S-Public Services, where girocode.de leads, based its GiroCode specification on the EPC guideline. The Austrian code labelled “Zahlen mit Code” rests on the same EPC standard, as Austria's PSA states.

Can I create an EPC QR code without an amount?

Yes. The amount line is optional; the payer then enters the amount in the banking app, and the Austrian definition requires apps to ask for it. Left empty in the generator, the line stays empty, as on a payment slip without a printed amount.

Can an EPC QR code be scanned with the phone camera?

Not reliably for paying: a camera or general QR app often shows only the lines of text, as the Dutch Payments Association notes. The payer scans from inside the banking app instead, which opens the prepared transfer for checking and approval.

Can a fraudster change the IBAN in an EPC QR code?

Yes: anyone can create a valid EPC QR code, and the format has no signature, so a forged invoice can carry another account. The protection is the payer's check: Febelfin asks businesses to remind customers to check account number, amount and reference.

More resources

Guide

Related barcode generators

Swiss QR Code ZATCA QR code QR Code GS1 QR Code All barcode types ›

Free EPC QR code generator.

How to create an EPC QR code

Enter your name and IBAN

Add the amount and a reference or a note

Size it, leave a 4-module margin, test