PreflightSEPA Return Codes Overview (R01, R02, R03…)
SEPA return reason codes indicate why a direct debit or credit transfer was rejected or returned. This overview lists the most common codes and links to detailed reference pages where we have full coverage. Use it to quickly look up a code or to understand the scheme’s return landscape.
Last updated: 2026-02-25
Scope: Operational reference. Not scheme legal text. Use scheme documentation for normative rules.
Return codes at a glance
| Code | Meaning | Summary | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| R01 | Insufficient funds | Debtor account did not have sufficient available balance at execution or settlement. | Full reference → |
| R02 | Account closed | Debtor account has been closed; payment cannot be executed. | Full reference → |
| R03 | No mandate / invalid mandate | Mandate missing, invalid, or revoked; often used for SEPA direct debit. | — |
| R04 | Invalid creditor | Creditor identifier or account details invalid or not authorised. | — |
| R05 | Unpaid (reason not specified) | Payment returned without a specific reason code; requires investigation. | — |
| R06 | Duplicate payment | Same payment already received or processed; duplicate detection. | — |
| R07 | Technical reason | Technical or processing failure; scheme or bank-specific. | — |
| R08 | Regulatory / compliance | Return due to regulatory, sanctions, or compliance reasons. | — |
How return codes are used
In SEPA Credit Transfer (SCT) and SEPA Direct Debit (SDD), the debtor bank (or the clearing mechanism) returns a payment with a reason code when the transaction cannot be completed. The code is passed back along the scheme so the originator and creditor can understand why the payment failed. R01 and R02 are among the most frequent; R01 is a funds-availability outcome, R02 an account-lifecycle outcome. Other codes cover mandates, duplicates, technical issues, and regulatory blocks. For normative definitions and the full official list, refer to the EPC scheme documentation (e.g. SEPA Core, SEPA B2B).
Detailed reference pages
We provide in-depth operator reference for the following codes. Each page covers meaning, lifecycle, impact, triage, and prevention.
- R01 – Insufficient Funds— When it occurs, operational impact, what to check first, and how to detect or prevent it.
- R02 – Account Closed— Account lifecycle; impact on recurring and one-off payments; triage and prevention.
Preflight models these scenarios deterministically before and after execution.