# UPN QR

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/upn-qr
> research date 2026-05-29 · extracted at 2026-10-03
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [UPN QR Technical Standard — Slovenian Bank Association](https://www.zbs-giz.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EN_Tehnicni_standard_UPN_QR.pdf)

## Overview

**UPN QR** (Univerzalni Plačilni Nalog QR Code — Universal Payment Order QR Code) is **Slovenia's standardised payment-order format with QR-code-embedded payment data** — defined by the **Slovenian Bank Association** <sup>[1][1], [2][2], [Slovenia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI)</sup>. UPN serves as **Slovenia's unified payment form replacing previous special money order + payment order formats**. The QR code on UPN payment forms contains **all the information from the UPN (IBAN of payee, name + address of payee, purpose, payment-purpose code, amount, reference, date of execution)** — enabling **simple scan-and-pay via mobile banking apps + automatic data capture**.

The structural significance: UPN QR launched **April 3, 2017** with **1-year migration period until April 3, 2018** — making it Europe's earlier QR-code-embedded payment-form standards. **Bank of Slovenia (Banka Slovenije / BSI) National Payments Council** drove the standardisation. The **standardised payment-order-with-QR model** is structurally distinctive — UPN QR is **paper-form-centric** (printed on physical invoices + bills) with QR-code-embedded data, **bridging traditional paper-payment-orders + modern mobile-banking-scan-pay** workflows. **Multiple Slovenian banks** (Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Slovenia, Unicredit Slovenia, NLB, NKBM, others) + **payment-processor Bankart** support UPN QR. **UPN QR vs EPC QR** conversion tools exist for European-payment-area interoperability — illustrating UPN's status as a **Slovenia-specific national standard alongside European SEPA-EPC QR alternatives**.

## History

**Background — Slovenian payment landscape** <sup>[Slovenia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI)</sup>:
- **Banka Slovenije (BSI)** — central bank, member of Eurosystem.
- **Slovenian Bank Association (Združenje bank Slovenije / ZBS)** — bank industry body.
- **Bankart** — Slovenian payment processor.
- **Slovenia adopted Euro 2007**.

**Pre-UPN — multiple payment-order forms** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- Special money order + payment order forms.

**UPN unified form launch** <sup>[2][2]</sup>:
- Replaces special money order + payment order.

**Slovenian Bank Association technical specification** <sup>[1][1]</sup>:
- UPN technical standard.

**April 3, 2017 — UPN QR launches** <sup>[2][2]</sup>:
- Slovenian Bank Association + member banks.

**April 3, 2018 — UPN QR full migration** <sup>[2][2]</sup>:
- 1-year transition completed.

**Multi-bank + multi-software ecosystem** <sup>[3][3]</sup>:
- Open-source generators + OpenCart integrations + UPN-EPC converters.

## Technical specification

UPN QR is **Slovenian Bank Association-defined unified payment-order form with QR-embedded data** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>:

| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| **Standard owner** | **Slovenian Bank Association (ZBS)** |
| **Country** | Slovenia |
| **Currency** | EUR |
| **Form** | Universal Payment Order (UPN) with QR code |
| **Launch** | **April 3, 2017** (full migration April 3, 2018) |
| **QR-encoded fields** | IBAN of payee, name + address, purpose, purpose code, amount, reference, date of execution |
| **Capture model** | Scan QR via mobile banking app, automatic data capture |
| **Distribution** | Paper + electronic invoices |
| **Companion** | EPC QR (SEPA, conversion tools exist) |

## Use cases

**Bill + invoice payment** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Cardinal — printed on bills + invoices.

**Mobile-banking-app QR scan-to-pay** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Standard UX.

**Automatic data capture** <sup>[1][1]</sup>: Faster + more accurate vs manual entry.

**Government + utility payments** <sup>[2][2]</sup>: Standardised across budget users.

**Multi-bank universal acceptance** <sup>[2][2]</sup>: Slovenian bank-system standard.

**UPN-to-EPC QR conversion** [[upn-epc]]: Cross-border SEPA flow.

## Implementations & ecosystem

**Standard owner**: **Slovenian Bank Association (ZBS)**.

**Coordinator**: **Banka Slovenije (BSI) National Payments Council**.

**Major Slovenian banks supporting UPN QR**: Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Slovenia, Unicredit Slovenia, NLB, NKBM, Sparkasse Slovenia, Addiko Bank, Delavska hranilnica, others.

**Payment processor**: **Bankart**.

**Open-source tools**: php-upn-qr-generator (GitHub: DataLinx).

**OpenCart extensions**: UPN QR code payment extensions.

**UPN-to-EPC converters**: upn-epc-qr.si.

## Fun facts

- **April 3, 2017 launch + April 3, 2018 full migration**: Defined 1-year transition.
- **Paper-form-centric design with QR**: Bridges traditional payment-orders + modern scan-pay.
- **All payment fields encoded in QR**: IBAN, name, purpose, amount, reference, date.
- **Universal Slovenian bank coverage**: Industry-wide standardisation.
- **Open-source generators on GitHub**: Developer-friendly.
- **UPN-EPC conversion tools**: SEPA cross-border interoperability.
- **Slovenian-specific national standard**: Complementary to EU EPC QR.
- **Bank of Slovenia National Payments Council coordination**: Central-bank-supported.

## Comparison

| Feature | UPN QR (SI) | EPC QR (EU SEPA) | Giro QR (DE) | Postin QR (FI) | [Swish QR](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/standards/swish-qr) (SE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard owner | **Slovenian Bank Association (ZBS)** | EPC (European Payments Council) | Various DE bank associations | Finnish bank standards | Swedish bank consortium |
| Country | Slovenia | EU SEPA | Germany | Finland | Sweden |
| Form | **Paper-form + QR-embedded UPN** | SEPA Credit Transfer QR | Giro form + QR | Postin form + QR | Mobile-app-driven |
| Launch | **April 3, 2017** | 2017 | n/a | n/a | 2012 |
| Scope | Bills + invoices + government payments | SEPA credit transfers | Bills + invoices | Bills + invoices | P2P mobile payments |

## Status

**Active, mature SI national standard** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>:
- **Slovenian Bank Association owner**.
- **April 3, 2017 launch + April 3, 2018 full migration**.
- **All major Slovenian banks support**.
- **Open-source developer tools available**.
- **UPN-to-EPC QR conversion for SEPA cross-border**.

## Sources

[1]: https://www.zbs-giz.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/EN_Tehnicni_standard_UPN_QR.pdf "UPN QR Technical Standard — Slovenian Bank Association"
[2]: 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 "Introduction of UPN QR form — Bank of Slovenia"
[3]: https://github.com/DataLinx/php-upn-qr-generator "php-upn-qr-generator — GitHub"
[upn-epc]: https://upn-epc-qr.si/ "UPN QR to EPC QR Converter"

- [1] [UPN QR Technical Standard — Slovenian Bank Association][1]
- [2] [Introduction of UPN QR form — Bank of Slovenia][2]
- [3] [php-upn-qr-generator — GitHub][3]
- [upn-epc] [UPN QR to EPC QR Converter][upn-epc]
- <sup>[Slovenia report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/SI)</sup> `reports/countries/SI-slovenia.md`

## Deployments

Found in the following country reports (grep across `reports/countries/`):

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