Which banks support SEPA QR code payments

Short, honest answer: banking apps in Romania do not scan SEPA payment QR codes (EPC / GiroCode). Local banks — ING, BCR, Banca Transilvania, BRD, CEC, Raiffeisen, plus Romanian neobanks such as Salt Bank — went with a national standard, RoPay, not EPC. The EPC code is still useful in Romania, though, if you scan it with the right app.

Why Romanian banks do not read the EPC code

The payment code generated by getQR follows the European EPC069-12 (GiroCode) standard, designed for transfers in EUR. In Romania, the banking community instead launched RoPay — a national instant-payment system in RON, with its own QR code format. These are two different standards, so your Romanian bank app looks for a RoPay code, not an EPC one, which is why it says "code not recognised".

What to scan an EPC code with in Romania

To pay an EPC / SEPA code you need an app that supports the standard. The most widely used in Romania are:

• Revolut — very popular in Romania, scans EPC codes for SEPA transfers in EUR;
• bunq;
• N26.

The condition is that the payment is in EUR (EPC does not work for RON), from a SEPA account.

Outside Romania

In Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Finland, the EPC code is widely supported: most banking apps scan it directly. There, a code generated with getQR works with almost any bank.

France, Italy, Spain and other countries

In France, a few large banks (BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, BPCE) are piloting or gradually adding EPC scanning, but support is still limited. In Italy and Spain, banks mainly use national schemes — Bancomat Pay and PagoPA in Italy, Bizum in Spain — and direct EPC support in local bank apps is low. There too, the most reliable way to pay an EPC code is a compatible app such as Revolut, bunq or N26.

How to check quickly

Generate a free test code with the SEPA payment QR code generator (use your own IBAN, in EUR) and scan it with Revolut. If the form fills in by itself with the IBAN and amount, you are ready to pay. If a code will not read, see also why a QR payment code does not scan, and for the full process, how to pay with a SEPA QR code.