BR-DE-20:The Debited Account (BT-91) should contain a valid IBAN for SEPA direct...
The Debited Account (BT-91) should contain a valid IBAN for SEPA direct debit. The current value doesn't match IBAN format.
Engine Classification
Financial or legal field · Modification blocked by policy
Reason: German IBAN format is strictly validated. Please verify your bank account details with your financial institution.
What is BR-DE-20?
BR-DE-20 is a fatal validation rule defined in the XRechnung (Germany) specification (DEU national rules). It checks whether the debited account (bt-91) should contain a valid iban for sepa direct....
When this rule fires, the invoice is non-compliant and will be rejected by Peppol access points and national validation services. The sending system receives a rejection response and the invoice does not reach the buyer.
Why This Error Matters
Invoice rejected. SEPA direct debits require valid IBANs.
BR-DE-20 is a hard failure. Invoices that trigger this rule are rejected at the access point and never reach the recipient. In Peppol networks, this means your sending system receives an MLR (Message Level Response) with a rejection status. The invoice must be corrected and re-sent, adding delay to your payment cycle.
Validator Behavior
- ·Causes invoice rejection
- ·Rejected by XRechnung endpoints
- ·Error returned: BR-DE-20
- ·Specification: XRechnung (Germany)
Before / After
<Invoice> <!-- Issue: German SEPA direct debit requires valid IBAN for debited acc --> </Invoice>
<Invoice> <!-- Issue resolved per XRechnung (Germany) --> </Invoice>
Technical Reference
Common Causes
- ·Debited account is not valid IBAN for SEPA
- ·BT-91 contains invalid IBAN for direct debit
- ·German direct debit requires valid debtor IBAN
- ·PaymentMandate account not valid IBAN format
- ·FinancialAccount/ID fails IBAN validation
Seeing this in production? The API handles BR-DE-20 automatically. See the fix response →
Related Errors
Last updated: 27 February 2026
Handle BR-DE-20 Automatically in Your Pipeline
The compliance engine auto-remediates this error with controlled safety policies and evidence pack generation.