An article by
Andreas Wegmann & AI friends
Published on
26/06/2025
Updated on
26/06/2025
Reading time
2 min
EBICS offers banks and companies a secure and multibank-capable transmission of payment transaction messages based on a standard Internet connection. In German SEPA payment transactions, EBICS dominates over SWIFT due to its independence and cost efficiency. Since EBICS 2.X was replaced by 3.X, the various order types have been replaced by a combination of BTU and BTF. This article provides an overview.
EBICS BTU and BTD
The EBICS order types BTU and BTD stand for Business Transaction Upload and Download and were introduced with EBICS 3.0. In many scenarios, they replace the conventional order types such as CCT, CCU, FUL etc. (see article “EBICS order types EBICS 2.5”). (see article “EBICS order types EBICS 2.5“) by using a standardised, format-neutral container concept. Instead of specifying what is sent in the EBICS order type (CCT, CCD, AZV…), the “what” is defined via BTF parameters (Business Transaction Format).
EBICS BTF
The Business Transaction Format in EBICS is a central innovation from EBICS version 3.0. It replaces the previous combination of order type and format parameters with a standardised, structured format for describing business transactions.
A BTF consists of a standardised 5-part character string, separated by slashes:
<Service>/Country/Option/MessageName/ContainerType
| Component | Meaning | Beispiel |
|---|---|---|
Service | business type (SCT, SDD, AZV, XCT, REP…) | SCT = SEPA Credit Transfer |
Country | country code (z. B. DE, FR, CH) | DE |
Option | Additional information (z. B. STD = Standard, URG = Urgent) | URG = dringend |
MessageName | ISO 20022 message type | pain.001, camt.054 |
ContainerType | Optional: e.g. ZIP for container files | ZIP, leer |
Advantages of BTU compared to previous order types
- Flexible: one order type – many formats, can be differentiated by BTF
- Harmonisation: same mechanism in DE, FR, CH
- Future-proof: customisation via BTF parameters possible without adapting the EBICS specification
- Supports XML, ZIP and container formats: e.g. pain.001 in ZIP with signature file
Special technical features and requirements
- BTF parameters must be transferred in full.
- Schema validity (e.g. pain.001.001.09) is the responsibility of the submitter.
- EBICS servers check BTF against user authorisation.
- Must be explicitly enabled at some banks (not always preset).
Examples of BTF parameters
| Business transaction | BTF-Parameter | Bedeutung |
|---|---|---|
| SEPA credit tarnsfer | SCT/DE/STD/pain.001/ | Standard-SEPA Credit Transfer |
| SEPA Express bank transfer(CCU) | XCT/DE/URG/pain.001/ | Individual transaction with high priority |
| SEPA-direct debit B2B | SDD/DE/B2B/pain.008/ | SEPA Direct Debit (Business) |
| recall camt.055 | SCT/DE//camt.055/ | Callback order |
| Payment advice notecamt.054 (ZIP) | REP/DE/STD/camt.054/ZIP | Account notification in ZIP container |
If you are a financial institution or company looking for an EBICS solution, we look forward to hearing from you.
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