Banks in Ireland (AIB, Bank of Ireland) already operate primarily under the SEPA ISO 20022 XML standard. This means Irish clients must prioritise XML payment formats, as legacy TXT formats are no longer aligned with how payments are processed across SEPA.

Payment files must be generated in XML format (e.g. pain.001.001.09), which is the standard for SEPA payments in Ireland. Legacy TXT formats are being phased out globally and are not suitable for Irish bank submissions.

Ireland is already aligned to XML standards. By November 2026, stricter enforcement of structured data will apply across Europe, meaning incorrectly structured XML files may be rejected by Irish banks.

All Irish payment processing requires XML. Users must ensure Coins outputs SEPA-compliant XML, and that supplier data (especially addresses and IBANs) is complete and structured. Non-compliant files are likely to be rejected immediately by Irish banks.

Unlike Ireland, UK banks such as Barclays may still use multiple formats for domestic GBP payments (e.g. BACS or Faster Payments). However, for Irish operations, XML is the only strategic format and should be prioritised.

Focus on implementing SEPA XML (pain.001.001.09) within Coins. Validate Irish supplier data, engage with your bank, and begin testing XML submissions as early as possible.

Download BI form: Coins_Bank SEPA_BI_form.txt

Please update Bank account settings and Purchase Ledger and Subcontract Ledger as required, for example the “BACSFILE” name must contain “pain001” and end with “.xml” (lower case).

Download sample XML file: SEPA__ANNOTATED_june2026.xml