# Slovenia — payment codes and schemes

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

## Summary

- **UPN QR** is Slovenia's national payment QR code standard, introduced April 3, 2017
- Slovenia has a unique QR format incompatible with standard European EPC QR codes
- **Flik** is the national instant payment system for P2P and merchant payments
- All major Slovenian banks support UPN QR scanning in their mobile apps
- Banking market is a duopoly: NLB (~31%) and OTP/Nova KBM (~31%) dominate

## Banking landscape

### Central Bank
- **Name:** Banka Slovenije (Bank of Slovenia)
- **Website:** https://www.bsi.si/

### Major Banks (2024)

| Rank | Bank Name | Total Assets (EUR) | Market Share | Parent Group |
|------|-----------|-------------------|--------------|--------------|
| 1 | Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB) | ~17,000 M | 31.14% | NLB Group (Slovenia) |
| 2 | OTP banka d.d. (formerly Nova KBM + SKB) | 16,750 M | 30.73% | OTP Bank (Hungary) |
| 3 | Banca Intesa Sanpaolo | 4,062 M | 7.45% | Intesa Sanpaolo (Italy) |
| 4 | UniCredit Banka Slovenija | 3,702 M | 6.79% | UniCredit (Italy) |
| 5 | Addiko Bank | ~1,500 M | ~3% | Addiko Group |
| 6 | Gorenjska Banka | ~1,200 M | ~2% | AIK Banka (Serbia) |

**Market Structure:** 12 banks (7 domestic, 5 foreign-owned)
**Concentration:** Top 2 banks hold ~62% of the market (effective duopoly)

### Banking Association
- **Name:** Združenje bank Slovenije (ZBS) - Bank Association of Slovenia
- **Website:** https://www.zbs-giz.si/
- **Role:** Defines payment standards including UPN QR

---

## Payment infrastructure

### National Payment Systems

| System | Operator | Type | Status |
|--------|----------|------|--------|
| BIPS (Bankart Interbank) | Bankart | Batch clearing | Active |
| BIPS-IP | Bankart | Instant payments | Active (Q1 2020) |
| Flik | All banks via Bankart | P2P/P2M instant | Active (Q2 2020) |
| TIPS | ECB/Eurosystem | Pan-European instant | Connected |

### BIPS-IP (Instant Payments)
- **Operator:** Bankart (national payment processor)
- **Components:**
  - BIPS-IP for commercial interbank instant payments
  - Flik for P2P instant payments
  - Flik for P2M (Point of Sale) payments
- **Max Amount:** EUR 15,000 per transaction
- **Coverage:** 24/7/365

### Flik
- **Type:** National instant payment scheme
- **Developed by:** 15 Slovenian commercial and savings banks + Bankart
- **Catalyst:** Banka Slovenije
- **Features:**
  - P2P transfers using mobile number or email
  - POS payments via QR code or NFC
  - Real-time settlement (seconds)
  - Cross-bank interoperability
  - No transaction fees

### SEPA Compliance
- **SEPA Credit Transfer:** Full compliance
- **SEPA Instant (SCT Inst):** Full compliance via TIPS
- **Cross-border:** All Slovenian banks are direct TIPS participants

---

## QR code standards

### UPN QR (Primary Standard)

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| **Standard Name** | UPN QR (Univerzalni Plačilni Nalog QR) |
| **Barcode Type** | QR Code (ISO 18004) |
| **Operator** | Bank Association of Slovenia (ZBS) |
| **Introduced** | April 3, 2017 |
| **Migration Completed** | April 3, 2018 |
| **Use Case** | All domestic payment slips and invoices |
| **Adoption** | 100% of Slovenian banks |

#### Technical Specifications
- **QR Version:** V15
- **Encoding Mode:** Binary
- **Error Correction:** ECC_M
- **Character Set:** ECI ISO-8859-2
- **Max Capacity:** 411 characters

#### Data Structure

| Field | Max Length | Required | Format/Regex |
|-------|------------|----------|--------------|
| Lead | 5 | Yes | "UPNQR" header |
| Payer IBAN | 19 | No | SI IBAN no spaces |
| Deposit | 1 | Yes | "Y" or "N" |
| Withdrawal | 1 | Yes | "Y" or "N" |
| Payer Reference | 26 | No | Model + reference |
| Payer Name | 33 | No | ISO 8859-2 |
| Payer Street | 33 | No | ISO 8859-2 |
| Payer Place | 33 | No | ISO 8859-2 |
| Amount | 11 | Yes | Leading zeros (e.g., 00000012350) |
| Payment Date | 10 | No | DD.MM.YYYY |
| Urgency | 1 | No | "Y" or "N" |
| Purpose Code | 4 | Yes | ^[A-Z]{4}$ (e.g., OTHR) |
| Payment Purpose | 42 | No | Free text |
| Payment Deadline | 10 | No | DD.MM.YYYY |
| Recipient IBAN | 19 | Yes | SI IBAN no spaces |
| Recipient Reference | 26 | Yes | ^[A-Z]{2}[0-9\-]{1,24}$ |
| Recipient Name | 33 | Yes | ISO 8859-2 |
| Recipient Street | 33 | Yes | ISO 8859-2 |
| Recipient Place | 33 | Yes | ISO 8859-2 |
| Checksum | 3 | Yes | Control digits |
| Reserve | Variable | No | Up to capacity limit |

#### Reference Format
- **Model:** 2-letter prefix (e.g., SI00, SI99, RF)
- **Reference:** Up to 24 characters (digits and dashes)
- **Examples:**
  - `SI00 1234567890`
  - `SI99 123-456-789`
  - `RF18 5390 0754 7034`

#### Sample QR Content
```
UPNQR
SI56012345678901234

N
N


JANEZ NOVAK
SLOVENSKA CESTA 1
1000 LJUBLJANA
00000012350

N
OTHR
PLACILO RACUNA 12345

SI56029876543210987
SI00 1234567890-2025
PODJETJE D.O.O.
TRZASKA ULICA 10
1000 LJUBLJANA
123

```

### EPC QR (Secondary/Cross-border)

| Attribute | Value |
|-----------|-------|
| Type | QR Code |
| Standard | EPC 069-12 |
| Use Case | Cross-border SEPA payments, fintech apps |
| Compatibility | Revolut, N26, Bunq, other EU neobanks |

**Note:** UPN QR and EPC QR are **not compatible**. Converters exist (e.g., upn-epc-qr.si) to translate between formats.

---

## Mobile payment apps

| App Name | Bank | UPN QR Scan | Flik P2P | Flik POS | NFC Pay |
|----------|------|-------------|----------|----------|---------|
| NLB Klik | NLB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NLB Pay | NLB | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MOJ@SKB / OTP | OTP banka | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intesa Sanpaolo Mobile | Intesa | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UniCredit Mobile | UniCredit | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

### Key Features (All Major Apps)
- **Scan and Pay:** UPN QR code scanning
- **Flik Integration:** P2P transfers via phone/email
- **Flik Pay:** QR code payments at POS
- **NFC Payments:** Contactless (Android)
- **Push Notifications:** Transaction confirmations

### NLB Klik Highlights
- Most downloaded banking app in Slovenia
- QR code payment shortcut
- Repeat payment feature
- Multi-account management

---

## Third-party payment apps

| App Name | Type | UPN QR | EPC QR | Flik | Bank Integration |
|----------|------|--------|--------|------|------------------|
| Flik Pay (standalone) | Instant P2P/POS | Yes | No | Yes | All Slovenian banks |
| Revolut | Neobank | No | Yes | No | Via SEPA |
| N26 | Neobank | No | Yes | No | Via SEPA |
| Google Pay | NFC Wallet | No | No | No | Limited banks |
| Apple Pay | NFC Wallet | No | No | No | All major banks |

### Interoperability Issue
Slovenian banks use UPN QR while European neobanks use EPC QR. Conversion tools are available but not seamless.

---

## Schemes

| Scheme | Type | Symbology | Adoption | Technical standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [UPN QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI/upn-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | 100% | [`upn-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upn-qr) |
| [Flik QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI/flik-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | All banks | [`flik`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/flik) |
| [EPC QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI/epc-qr) | Payment QR | QR Code | Secondary | [`epc-qr`](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/epc-qr) |

## Sources

- [Bank Association of Slovenia - UPN QR Technical Standard](https://www.zbs-giz.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EN_Tehnicni_standard_UPN_QR.pdf)
- [Banka Slovenije - UPN QR Introduction](https://www.bsi.si/en/payments-and-infrastructure/national-payments-council/e-news/e-novice-nacionalnega-sveta-za-placila-avgust-2017/uvedba-obrazca-upn-qr)
- [European Payments Council - Instant Payment Environment in Slovenia](https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/news-insights/insight/instant-payment-environment-slovenia)
- [Banka Slovenije - Payment Infrastructure](https://www.bsi.si/en/payment-systems/payment-infrastructure)
- [TheBanks.eu - Slovenia Major Banks](https://thebanks.eu/countries/Slovenia/major_banks)
- [SKB Bank - Flik](https://www.skb.si/en/personal-finances/digital-banking/skb-flik)
- [NLB Klik](https://www.nlb.si/en/osebno/digitalne-storitve/nlb-klik)
- [Intesa Sanpaolo Bank - UPN](https://www.intesasanpaolobank.si/en/prebivalstvo/storitve-na-racunu/univerzalni-placilni-nalog-UPN.html)
- [UPN-EPC QR Converter](https://upn-epc-qr.si/)
- [GitHub - php-upn-qr-generator](https://github.com/DataLinx/php-upn-qr-generator)

## Full country report

[SI-slovenia.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI)