Payments Simplified
Thanks to the New QR-bill
The QR-bill: Efficiency Squared
The QR-bill modernizes Swiss payments. As of 30 September 2022, PostFinance will take the red and orange payment slips off the market. The QR-bill consists of a payment section and a receipt. All relevant information required for automatic and consequently efficient payment and book entry is included in Swiss QR Code.
The QR-bill and its digital possibilities will completely simplify payments. The benefits are clear:
Convenient
The QR code is very easy to scan.
Quick and automatic
One click is enough to trigger payment.
Efficient
There is no need to type the account and reference numbers – making payment faster and reducing errors.
Three Options For Paying a QR-bill Easily
Via Mobile Banking
Open the mobile banking app on your smartphone, scan the Swiss QR Code with the QR reader function and tap the screen to trigger payment.
Via E-banking
Open e-banking, scan the Swiss QR Code with the QR reader or your PC camera (depending on the bank offer) and click to trigger payment.
By Mail
The QR-bill works like an existing payment slip and can be paid either at a Swiss Post branch, at a branch with partner or by payment order in an envelope to the bank.
And of course it is also quick and easy if you are using a business software. Bring it up to date! This ensures that the QR-bills will be actually paid.
Ready For the QR-bill!
Using your bank's mobile banking and e-banking solution, you can easily scan your QR-bills – regardless of whether you are acting as a private individual or on behalf of a company.
Fit For the QR-bill?
In the event that you have not yet ‘gone digital’, get fit for the QR-bill and use online banking of your bank. You will then be able to pay your QR-bills easily using e-banking at your home computer or by mobile banking when you are out and about.
The QR-bill – Briefly Explained
- Just like existing payment slips, the QR-bill is divided into two parts – into a receipt (1) and a payment section (2).
- The Swiss QR Code (3) contains all relevant information needed both for invoicing and for payment.
- The perforation (4) means that you can easily separate the payment section and the receipt from the invoice and either pay it into the post office, just as you did before, or send it to your bank with the payment order by mail.
What to do when you get a QR-bill without amount or without name and address?
Enter the missing data manually.
Further Information
This is where you will find more information about the QR-bill – in your language and in a form that is easily downloadable.
FAQs Regarding the QR-bill
The date of introduction was 30 June 2020. From this date on:
- Invoice recipients must be able to pay QR-bills
- Invoice issuers may dispatch QR-bills.
During the parallel phase, which lasts until 30 September 2022, today's orange and red payment slips will still be accepted and processed. From 1st October 2022 only the QR-bill can be used. It is advisable to switch to the QR-bill in good time.
Yes, as is customary today with the red and orange payment slips, the payment section can also be attached to a payment order in paper form in future.
With the payment information contained in the QR code, you are able to trigger payments in e-/m-banking or incorporate alternative payment methods such as eBill and TWINT.
The payment section must be separated from the QR-bill. Then the payment section can be used for payment at the post office counter or at sub-post offices. The receipt can also be used to confirm payments.
QR bills (or separate payment parts with receipt) in PDF format are only suitable for payments in e-/m-banking, but not for paper-based payment transactions at the counter. However, if they have to be paid at the counter, the payment part and receipt should be separated from the invoice. The payment part (without receipt) can then be attached to a payment order in paper form.
Anybody who uses e-banking or mobile banking benefits most from the QR-bill. The Swiss QR Code can be easily scanned with a QR reader or the PC camera (depending on the bank offer) and the payment executed with a single click.
The QR code contains all relevant details of the payment recipient and payer, amount, currency etc. A complete list is provided in the “Swiss Implementation Guidelines QR-bill”.
No. People are still able to record payment orders in e-/m-banking and present the invoices at the post office counter/sub-post offices or as payment orders at the bank.
Exactly the same as with the payment slips: separate them neatly from the bill and show them at the counter.
No, the fee logic of PostFinance doesn't change. This means that the fees continue to be debited to the creditor account.
Your house bank allows you to scan the Swiss QR Code via your e-banking or m-banking mask (e.g. with your smartphone camera). For counter payments, the scanning is done on the spot.
Yes, many QR code readers are available for free on the Internet. In addition, after scanning, the payment data is displayed in your e-banking or mobile banking application.
No. All payment transaction channels remain in use. All the information included therein will be printed on the payment section; it can also be read with the naked eye, i.e. without technical equipment. This means that payments can still be recorded manually in e-/m-banking without any additional infrastructure. The same information is also included in the Swiss QR Code. This also means payers can automate their recording. In private households, this will be possible primarily through the use of banking apps on smartphones. Payers with large numbers of invoices will use document readers or scanners, which support the Swiss QR Code, for this automation.
Two cases must be distinguished here:
- Payments from Switzerland to other countries: This is only possible if the invoice issuer offers a bank account in Switzerland or Liechtenstein.
- Payments from abroad to Switzerland: We cannot influence whether banks abroad support the QR-bill. There may be corresponding offers for Swiss customers in regions close to the border.
We recommend using the QR-bill with Creditor Reference and IBAN for such payments.
PostFinance ensures that there is also an offer with the QR-bill to make payments at the counter without a preprinted payment slip. Until then, today's blank payment slip is still available.
An ultimate debtor is a person who receives a QR-bill. Data on the ultimate debtor must be forwarded from the debtor's institution to the creditor's institution in accordance with the agreement with the debtor, provided that this data is transmitted by the debtor in the payment order and no instructions to the contrary or special agreements with the debtor preclude forwarding.
Since SIX does not evaluate offers from third parties and does not favor individual software providers for competitive reasons, there are no recommendations to this effect. However, on PaymentStandards.CH you will find a list of browser-based solutions for generating Swiss QR Codes.