# Austria — payment codes and schemes

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/AT
> extracted at 2026-10-03
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

## Summary

- Austria uses the **EPC QR code** (locally called "Stuzza QR" or "Zahlen mit Code") as the standard payment QR
- **EPS (Electronic Payment Standard)** is the dominant online banking payment method since 2001
- Austria was a pioneer in EPC QR development - STUZZA defined the standard in 2012 before EPC adoption
- All major banks support QR code scanning in mobile apps (George, Mein ELBA, etc.)
- Connected to **TIPS** for pan-European instant payments

## Banking landscape

### Central Bank
- **Name:** Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)
- **Website:** https://www.oenb.at/

### Major Banks (2024)

| Rank | Bank Name | Total Assets (EUR) | Market Share | Type |
|------|-----------|-------------------|--------------|------|
| 1 | UniCredit Bank Austria AG | 101,630 M | 10.00% | Joint stock/Private |
| 2 | Erste Group Bank AG | ~189,000 M | ~18% | Savings bank (holding) |
| 3 | Raiffeisen Bank International AG | 82,075 M | 8.08% | Cooperative |
| 4 | BAWAG P.S.K. | ~50,000 M | ~5% | Joint stock |
| 5 | Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen | 38,830 M | 3.82% | Savings bank |
| 6 | Raiffeisenlandesbank OÖ | ~45,000 M | ~4.5% | Cooperative |

### Banking System Structure
Austria has a unique three-tier structure:
- **Joint-stock banks** (Aktienbanken)
- **Savings banks** (Sparkassen) - ~31.2% customer share
- **Cooperative banks** (Raiffeisen, Volksbanken)

### Key Organizations
- **PSA (Payment Services Austria GmbH):** National payment infrastructure operator
- **STUZZA:** Former payment standards organization (now part of PSA)
- **Website:** https://www.psa.at/

---

## Payment infrastructure

### National Payment Systems

| System | Operator | Type | Status |
|--------|----------|------|--------|
| PSA Clearing | PSA | Batch clearing | Active |
| PSA Instant | PSA | Instant payments | Active |
| TIPS | ECB/Eurosystem | Pan-European instant | Connected |
| EPS | PSA/Banks | Online banking payments | Active (since 2001) |

### EPS (Electronic Payment Standard)
- **Type:** Online bank transfer payment method
- **Established:** 2001 (joint initiative: Austrian government + banks)
- **Coverage:** All Austrian banks
- **Use Cases:**
  - E-commerce checkout
  - Government services (e-government official method)
  - Bill payments
- **Features:**
  - Real-time payment confirmation
  - Direct bank-to-bank transfer
  - Integrated with German Giropay for cross-border

### SEPA/TIPS Integration
- Full SEPA compliance
- Direct TIPS participant for instant payments
- Cross-border instant payments enabled

### Wero (European Payments Initiative)
Austria is participating in **Wero**, the new European digital wallet:
- Instant A2A payments via SEPA Instant Credit Transfer
- Pan-European interoperability goal

---

## QR code standards

### EPC QR Code / Stuzza QR (Primary Standard)

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| **Standard Name** | EPC QR Code / Stuzza QR / "Zahlen mit Code" |
| **Barcode Type** | QR Code |
| **Operator** | PSA (formerly STUZZA) / EPC |
| **First Defined** | 2012 (by STUZZA) |
| **EPC Published** | February 2013 |
| **Use Case** | Invoices, payment slips, bill payments |
| **Adoption** | All major Austrian banks |

#### Austrian Branding
- Framed with "Zahlen mit Code" text (right side, bottom-up)
- Visual identifier for payment-enabled QR codes

#### Technical Specifications (BCD Format)

| Line | Content | Max Length | Required |
|------|---------|------------|----------|
| 1 | Service Tag | 3 | Yes ("BCD") |
| 2 | Version | 3 | Yes (001 or 002) |
| 3 | Character Encoding | 1 | Yes (1-8) |
| 4 | Identification | 3 | Yes ("SCT") |
| 5 | BIC | 11 | Conditional* |
| 6 | Recipient Name | 70 | Yes |
| 7 | IBAN | 34 | Yes |
| 8 | Amount | 12 | Optional (EUR format) |
| 9 | Purpose Code | 4 | Optional |
| 10 | Reference (RF) | 35 | Optional |
| 11 | Remittance Info | 140 | Optional |
| 12 | User Note | 70 | Optional |

*BIC mandatory in version 001; optional in EEA for version 002

#### Character Encoding Options
| Code | Encoding |
|------|----------|
| 1 | UTF-8 |
| 2 | ISO 8859-1 |
| 3 | ISO 8859-2 |
| 4 | ISO 8859-4 |
| 5 | ISO 8859-5 |
| 6 | ISO 8859-7 |
| 7 | ISO 8859-10 |
| 8 | ISO 8859-15 |

#### Sample EPC QR Content
```
BCD
002
1
SCT
BKAUATWW
Musterempfänger GmbH
AT611904300234573201
EUR123.45
SALA

Rechnung 12345
```

### Legacy: Zahlschein Scanning
Austrian banks also support OCR scanning of traditional payment slips (Zahlscheine) with:
- IBAN recognition
- Reference number extraction
- Amount detection

---

## Mobile payment apps

| App Name | Bank Group | QR Scan | QR Generate | EPS | Notes |
|----------|------------|---------|-------------|-----|-------|
| George | Erste/Sparkassen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Most popular in Austria |
| Mein ELBA | Raiffeisen | Yes | Yes | Yes | "Zahlschein Scan" feature |
| Mobile Banking | Bank Austria/UniCredit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full QR support |
| klar | BAWAG P.S.K. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Modern interface |
| Volksbank Mobile | Volksbanken | Yes | Yes | Yes | QR and OCR scan |

### George App (Erste/Sparkassen)
- Austria's most modern mobile banking
- QR code scanning for payments
- QR-based device pairing
- George ID activation via QR
- Biometric authentication

### Mein ELBA (Raiffeisen)
- Most popular online/mobile banking in Austria
- Features:
  - Scan IBAN, payment slips, QR codes
  - Create and share QR codes
  - Automatic form population
  - pushTAN via QR code activation
- 5-digit signature code for authorization

---

## Third-party payment apps

| App Name | Type | EPC QR | EPS | Integration |
|----------|------|--------|-----|-------------|
| Google Pay | Wallet | Limited | No | Card-based |
| Apple Pay | Wallet | Limited | No | Card-based |
| Bluecode | Mobile Payment | Yes | No | Austrian banks |
| PayPal | Online | No | Yes | Via EPS checkout |
| Klarna | BNPL | No | Yes | Via EPS |

### Bluecode
- Austrian-developed mobile payment solution
- QR code-based payments at POS
- Bank account linked

---

## Schemes

| Scheme | Type | Symbology | Adoption | Technical standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [EPC QR / Stuzza QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/AT/epc-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | 100% banks | [`epc-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/epc-qr) |
| [Wero](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/AT/wero) | Digital wallet | QR/NFC | Rolling out | [`wero`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/wero) |

## Sources

- [PSA Payment Services Austria - QR Code](https://zv.psa.at/en/zahlungsverkehr/qr-code.html)
- [Wikipedia - EPC QR Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPC_QR_code)
- [European Payments Council - QR Code Guidelines](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/document-library/guidance-documents/quick-response-code-guidelines-enable-data-capture-initiation)
- [TheBanks.eu - Austria Major Banks](https://thebanks.eu/countries/Austria/major_banks)
- [Sparkasse - George App](https://www.sparkasse.at/sgruppe/privatkunden/digitales-banking/apps/george-app-en)
- [Raiffeisen - Mein ELBA App](https://www.raiffeisen.at/de/online-banking/apps/mein-elba-app.html)
- [Stripe - EPS Payments Guide](https://stripe.com/resources/more/eps-an-in-depth-guide)
- [Checkout.com - EPS](https://www.checkout.com/payment-methods/eps)
- [PSA - Payment Services](https://www.psa.at/en/payment-services)
- [Bank Austria - SEPA Information](https://www.bankaustria.at/files/sepa-kundeninfo-en.pdf)

## Full country report

[AT-austria.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/AT)