Payment control & P27

What is P27?

P27 Nordic Payments Platform is a Nordic initiative whose goal is to create a shared, modern, and future-proof infrastructure for payments in the Nordic region. It is a joint banking project whose purpose is to promote trade within and between the Nordic countries, among other things by enabling real-time cross-border payments.

File communication

The Bankgirot file format will be replaced by the file format specified in the ISO 20022 standard:

Files for the bank

When P27 is introduced, ISO 20022 will be used as the file format for payment files. It is already possible to switch to this format standard and thus prepare for a smooth migration. The advantage of ISO 20022 as a file format is that it can be used for all types of payments, such as Swedish payments, international payments, and even salaries.

Reconciliation

Payments to bankgiro/postgiro numbers are also made as account-to-account payments and are reported per account with the bankgiro/postgiro number (alias) as a reference. This means that reconciliation functions in the systems may need to be adjusted, as previous reporting was often based on bankgiro numbers.

Reference information accompanying the payment will be more comprehensive and of higher quality. More reference information can be provided by the sender, and all information accompanies the payment to the recipient. Both procedures and systems may need to be adapted to take full advantage of this.

Direct file communication with Bankgirot is being discontinued

In connection with Bankgirot being replaced by P27, those who have direct file communication with Bankgirot (usually BGLink) will need to change their solution. All communication will henceforth take place via the banks. If you do not already have a communication solution with your bank, this will need to be established.

New file format according to ISO standard 

In connection with the transition to P27, the modern and internationally established format standard ISO 20022 will be used for payment files. It will replace the local file formats that are largely used for domestic payments/payment information in Sweden, such as LB, KI, and BGMax.

The first old file formats that the bank will phase out are LB, KI, and UTLI/SISU, which will take place during Q1 2022.

Handling credit notes

As a consequence of the switch to ISO 20022 and the Nordic Payment Council's NPC regulations, the handling of credit notes will change. In future, payment orders must have a positive amount. This means that individual credit notes cannot be sent to the banking system. Credit notes can still form part of a payment, but monitoring and settlement must be handled by your own system. If credit notes are included in a payment, they must not result in the payment amount becoming zero or negative.

More extensive references

The new standard makes it possible to have more comprehensive and structured references. This can benefit both the sender and the recipient. As a payee, the changes may mean that you need to review your systems and procedures for reconciling accounts and bank accounts.

P27-compatible business systems

Most of the above changes are in areas that are normally handled by, and therefore affect, your business or financial system. It is therefore important that you start investigating how "P27-compatible" your system is as soon as possible.

If the system already handles communication in accordance with the ISO 20022 standard, the need for adaptation is likely to be limited. If the supplier cannot guarantee adaptation, or if a proprietary system is used, you should consider changing systems.