On 30 November 2020, the European Payments Council (EPC) published version 1.0 of the SEPA Request-To-Pay (SRTP) Scheme Rulebook. The rulebook consists of a set of rules, practices and standards that makes it possible for any eligible RTP service provider to join, participate and operate in the scheme.

The rulebook covers the set of operating rules and technical elements (including messages) that allow a payee to request the initiation of a payment from a payer in a wide range of physical or online use cases. The effective date of the first release is set for 15 June 2021 and takes into account the need for an independent certification body – to be selected and become operational – for the certification of applicants to the scheme as described in the trust and security framework annex of the rulebook. The EPC is expected to launch a request for proposal for this purpose in February 2021.

The SRTP scheme adherence process is envisaged to be opened in the first week of May 2021 to allow applicants to prepare their adherence application ahead of the effective date of the scheme.

The EPC aims to publish by end-November 2021 a second version of the scheme rulebook which will support more elaborate functionalities. As a first preparatory step, the EPC invites the market to submit its change requests in relation to the first release by 26 February 2021.