The account is closed: a returned SCT
Trigger: Nordbank finds the beneficiary account closed — after interbank settlement has already completed.
What operations sees first: An inbound pacs.004 referencing yesterday's pacs.008 lands in Bank Alfa's return queue, and money arrives back on the settlement account.
WHERE IS THE MONEY?
Debited from the debtor on day one; back in the debtor's account once the return settled.
DID SETTLEMENT HAPPEN?
Original settlement completed, then was reversed economically by a separately settled return — the first settlement itself was never undone.
WHO ACTS NEXT?
Nordbank (creditor agent) The debtor confirms the beneficiary's current account details before paying again; Bank Alfa closes the case once the re-credit is booked and matched.
PLAY THE EXCEPTION
Trigger: Nordbank finds the beneficiary account closed — after interbank settlement already completed.
The debtor initiates the transfer
Debtor (payer) → Bank Alfa (debtor agent) · pain.001
The customer instructs their bank to pay. A corporate typically sends a pain.001 file; a retail customer uses a banking channel that creates the same instruction internally.
Step 1 of 12: The debtor initiates the transfer
- 02ProcessingBank Alfa validates the instructionBank Alfa (debtor agent)
- 03PostingThe debtor's account is debitedBank Alfa (debtor agent)
- 05Clearing obligationThe CSM calculates positionsClearing & settlement mechanism
- 06SettlementPositions settle in central bank moneyBank Alfa (debtor agent) → Nordbank (creditor agent)
- 08ProcessingNordbank validates and screens the incoming paymentNordbank (creditor agent)
- 09 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingNordbank cannot apply the creditNordbank (creditor agent)
- 11 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe return settles backNordbank (creditor agent) → Bank Alfa (debtor agent)
- 12 · EXCEPTION PATHPostingBank Alfa re-credits the debtorBank Alfa (debtor agent)
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Back in the debtor's account after the return settled.
- Settlement
- Original settlement completed, then reversed by a separately settled return.
- Who acts next
- Nordbank (creditor agent) — The debtor confirms the beneficiary's current account details before paying again.
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
- 02ProcessingBank Alfa validates the instructionBank Alfa (debtor agent)
The debtor agent checks the format, the IBAN, available funds, and runs compliance screening before accepting the instruction for execution.
Screening checkpoint: Debtor-agent transaction screening — Names and remittance data are screened against sanctions lists before the payment goes interbank.
- 03PostingThe debtor's account is debitedBank Alfa (debtor agent)
Once accepted, Bank Alfa books the debit. The customer's money has left their account, but no money has yet moved between banks.
- DR Debtor's current account at Bank Alfa — EUR 12,500.00
- 05Clearing obligationThe CSM calculates positionsClearing & settlement mechanism
The CSM validates the message and includes it in a clearing cycle. Each participant's obligations are calculated — this creates who-owes-whom, not yet a movement of money.
Clearing produces obligations. The banks do not have their money yet — that only happens at settlement.
- 06SettlementPositions settle in central bank moneyBank Alfa (debtor agent) → Nordbank (creditor agent)
The calculated positions settle across the banks' settlement accounts at the central bank. Only now has money finally moved between Bank Alfa and Nordbank.
- DR Bank Alfa settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- CR Nordbank settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- 08ProcessingNordbank validates and screens the incoming paymentNordbank (creditor agent)
The creditor agent checks that the account exists and can be credited, and runs its own sanctions screening on the incoming payment.
Screening checkpoint: Creditor-agent inbound screening — The receiving bank screens independently — it cannot rely on the sender's screening alone.
- 09 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingNordbank cannot apply the creditNordbank (creditor agent)
The account is closed, so the payment cannot be completed. Because settlement already happened, the money must travel back as a new, settled movement — a return.
- 11 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe return settles backNordbank (creditor agent) → Bank Alfa (debtor agent)
The return is itself cleared and settled — money moves from Nordbank back to Bank Alfa in central bank money.
- DR Nordbank settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- CR Bank Alfa settlement account — EUR 12,500.00
- 12 · EXCEPTION PATHPostingBank Alfa re-credits the debtorBank Alfa (debtor agent)
The debtor gets their money back with the reason code available to explain what happened.
- CR Debtor's current account at Bank Alfa — EUR 12,500.00
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Back in the debtor's account after the return settled.
- Settlement
- Original settlement completed, then reversed by a separately settled return.
- Who acts next
- Nordbank (creditor agent) — The debtor confirms the beneficiary's current account details before paying again.
THE TIMELINE
- 01Bank AlfaSends the credit transfer into clearing; it settles to Nordbank in the next settlement cycle.pacs.008
- 02NordbankTries to apply the credit and finds the beneficiary account closed.
Settlement has already happened, so the money must travel back as a new, separately settled movement — a return, not a reject.
- 03NordbankReturns the payment through the CSM with reason code AC04 (closed account), referencing the original transaction.pacs.004
- 04CSMClears and settles the return; funds move from Nordbank back to Bank Alfa in central bank money.
- 05Bank AlfaMatches the pacs.004 to the original payment and re-credits the debtor, with the reason code available to explain what happened.
Resolution: The return settles like any other payment and the debtor is re-credited. The original transfer and the return are two completed, settled movements in opposite directions — not a cancellation of the first one.
Sources for this scenario2
- Scheme-specific rule2025 version 1.1 (EPC125-05)
2025 SEPA Credit Transfer rulebook ↗ — European Payments Council · return provisions
Version 1.1 replaced version 1.0 at publication on 5 October 2025 and is stated to remain in effect up to 21 November 2027. It moves the date from which the unstructured address format is no longer permitted to 15 November 2026.
- Simplified educational illustration
Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal
What this simplifies: Single-CSM model; institution-specific handling varies.
Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.