SEPA Character Set Converter
In a euro transfer, characters such as ş, ğ, ı, İ, ç, ö, ü in the payee name or remittance text may be corrupted by a bank in the chain, or the payment may be rejected. Convert your text to the basic set guaranteed in SEPA.
Updated:
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How does this tool calculate?
Definite — mathematical/standard result- Method/formula used
- EPC basic Latin set: a–z A–Z 0–9 / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space. Other characters are transliterated (ş→s, ß→ss, é→e) or removed.
- Data used
- EPC SEPA character set rules (EPC217-08) and ISO 20022 field lengths
- Unsupported cases
- Does not check your bank's extended character support (e.g. ä, ö, ü)
- Does not guarantee that the payee name will match the account holder (VoP)
Why do special characters cause problems?
SEPA messages are carried as ISO 20022 XML in UTF-8, but under European Payments Council (EPC) rules only the basic Latin character set is guaranteed to be carried between banks:
a–z A–Z 0–9 / - ? : ( ) . , ' + space
Some national communities and banks accept extended characters bilaterally (e.g. German ä, ö, ü, ß), but not every bank in the payment
chain has to support them. Turkish ş, ğ, ı, İ can therefore turn into ?, be dropped or — depending on the bank —
cause the payment to be rejected.
Conversion rules
| Character | Converted to |
|---|---|
| ş Ş · ğ Ğ · ı İ · ç Ç · ö Ö · ü Ü | s S · g G · i I · c C · o O · u U |
| ä · ß · é, è, ñ etc. | a · ss · unaccented letter |
| “ ” „ " ’ ` | ' |
| – — _ | - |
| & | + |
| € № @ # % * etc. | removed (no equivalent) |
Field lengths
- Name (Nm): 70 characters
- Unstructured remittance (Ustrd): 140 characters — anything longer may be truncated or rejected
- EndToEndId: 35 characters; must not start/end with
/or contain//
Changing the payee name can affect Verification of Payee (VoP). Many banks treat an unaccented spelling as a "close match", but this is not guaranteed. See: VoP simulator.
Related: SEPA payment reference · RF reference generator · pain.001 generator
Sources
SEPA scheme rulebooks & geographical scope
European Payments Council (EPC)
- Document date:
- 2025
- Last checked:
- 2026-07-16
ISO 20022 message standards (pain / camt)
ISO 20022 Registration Authority
- Document date:
- 2025
- Last checked:
- 2026-07-16