Regulation No. 2015-02 on the National Payments System

REGULATION ON THE
NATIONAL PAYMENTS SYSTEM year 2015 / number 02 (Consolidated text as of 29/01/2026 - Update I)

INDEX

PART I INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................................3
Title I Preamble .....................................................................................................................................................................3
Article I.I.1 – Sources ....................................................................................................................3
Article I.I.2 – Definitions ..........................................................................................................3
Title II Objectives and preparation .........................................................................................................................................4
Article I.II.1 – Purposes ...............................................................................................................4
Article I.II.2 – Consultation ....................................................................................................5

PART II MANAGEMENT OF THE NATIONAL PAYMENTS SYSTEM..........................................................6
Title I General Provisions ...............................................................................................................................................6
Article II.I.1 – Adherence to the National Payments System ...............................................6
Article II.I.2 – Interbank settlement system ...............................................................................................6
Article II.I.3 – Management costs of the National Payments System....................................7
Article II.I.4 – Sammarinese Interbank Network (RIS) .............................................................7
Article II.I.5 – Direct debit mandates ............................................................................7
Article II.I.6 – Creditor Identifier..............................................................................................8
Article II.I.7 – International Bank Account Number (IBAN) ...................................................8
Article II.I.8 – Bank Identifier Code (BIC) ...............................................................................8
Article II.I.9 – Impediments due to force majeure .........................................................8

Title II Specifics of the National Payments System ....................................................................................................9
Article II.II.1 – National payments system (NPS) ..........................................................9
Article II.II.2 – Sepa Credit Transfer (SCT)..............................................................................9
Article II.II.3 – Sepa Direct Debit (SDD)..................................................................................9
Article II.II.4 – SDD SMAC Merchants....................................................................................10
Article II.II.5 – SDD SMAC Holders.......................................................................................10

PART III ADJUSTMENT OF THE CURRENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK......................................... 11
Title I Amendments to Reg. 2014-04 .................................................................................................................................... 11
Article III.I.1 – Amendments to Article I.I.2 .............................................................................11
Article III.I.2 – Amendments to Article I.II.1............................................................................12
Article III.I.3 – Amendments to Article III.III.4........................................................................12
Article III.I.4 – Amendments to Article III.II.8 .........................................................................12
Article III.I.5 – Amendments to Article VIII.II.2 ......................................................................12
Article III.I.6 – Amendments to Article II.II.1 ..........................................................................12
Article III.I.6 – Amendments to Article VII.IV.17 ....................................................................13
Article III.I.7 – Amendments to Article V.III.1.........................................................................13
Article III.I.8 – Amendments to Article X.II.29 ........................................................................13
Article III.I.9 – Amendments to Article XI.I.1 ..........................................................................13
Article III.I.10 – Amendments to Article III.VI.6......................................................................13
Article III.I.11 – Amendments to Article X.I.3..........................................................................13
Article III.I.12 – Amendments to Article X.I.4..........................................................................14

Title II Amendments to Reg. 2013-05................................................................................................................................... 14
Article III.II.1 – Amendments to Article 7 ................................................................................14
Article III.II.2 – Relocation of transitional provision ..................................................................14

Title III Amendments to Reg. 2007-01................................................................................................................................. 14
Article III.III.1 – Complaints and out-of-court appeals..................................................................14

PART IV FINAL PROVISIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 16
Title I Transitional provisions ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Article IV.I.1 – Entry into force............................................................................................16
Article IV.I.2 – Repeals....................................................................................................16

Title II Publications ......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Article IV.II.1 – Consolidated texts...................................................................................................16
Article IV.II.2 – Official Gazette ......................................................................................17

PART I
INTRODUCTION
Title I
Preamble

Article I.I.1 – Sources

1. Regulation No. 2014-04 on payment services and the issuance of electronic money, as well as Regulation No. 2013-05 on entry into SEPA, find their source at the Community level respectively in Directives No. 2007/64/EC (hereinafter PSD) of 13 November 2007 and 2009/110/EC (hereinafter EMD) of 16 September 2009, and in Regulations (EC) No. 924/2009 of 16 September 2009 and No. 260/2012 of 14 March 2012.
2. The transposition of such Community Regulations has allowed the Republic of San Marino to enter the list of countries adhering to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) since 1 February 2014, providing for the adjustment, by 1 February 2016, of technical requirements:

• for national credit transfers;
• for national direct debits in favor of the Broad Public Sector.

3. The information structures to be produced within the flows transmitted in the interbank leg through the Sammarinese Interbank Network (RIS) will find their regulatory sources, as of 1 February 2016, in the Rulebooks and Implementation Guidelines issued by the European Payments Council (EPC), replacing the technical sheets currently in force for the RIS.

Article I.I.2 – Definitions

1. For the purposes of this Regulation, the expressions used shall be understood with the following meaning:

• “ABI-CAB”: Identifying code of the bank (ABI) and of the branch of the same bank (CAB) contained within the IBAN code;

• “Central Bank” or “BCSM”: the Central Bank of the Republic of San Marino;

• “Creditor Identifier”: unique standard code of the creditor subject for each SEPA Country, the registration of which is entrusted to the European Payments Council;

• “EPC”: European Payments Council;

• “Working Day”: day resulting as operational in the calendar of the National Payments System, published on the Central Bank website (www.bcsm.sm);

• “LISF”: Law 17 November 2005, No. 165 and subsequent amendments;

• “IDP-IMEL Regulation”: Regulation No. 2014-04 and subsequent amendments;

• “SEPA Regulation”: Regulation No. 2013-05 and subsequent amendments;

• “RIS”: Sammarinese Interbank Network that transports financial messaging within the National Payments System;

• “Rulebook”: Technical-regulatory guide, in force from time to time, which defines the rules and operational standards of SEPA credit transfer schemes and SEPA basic direct debit schemes;

• “SCT”: credit transfer pursuant to Art. 3 of Reg. 2013-05;

• “SDD”: direct debit pursuant to Art. 3 of Reg. 2013-05;

• “SDD SMAC Merchants”: daily SDD bulk operations for each merchant against the loading of the SMAC for the application of discounts provided by SMAC regulations;

• “SDD SMAC Holders”: SDD operations on the current account for the recharge of the SMAC;

• “SEPA”: area that includes all countries listed in the official list published periodically by the EPC, whose citizens, businesses and other economic operators can make and receive payments in euros, both within national borders and cross-border, under uniform basic conditions, rights and obligations, regardless of their location;

• “SMAC”: prepaid debit card issued by the State, governed by specific SMAC regulations published on the website www.sanmarinocard.sm, which, as far as the National Payments System is concerned, generates massive debit and credit operations to merchant accounts, respectively with SDD and SCT;

• “SWIFT”: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, with registered office in Belgium.

2. In the remainder of the text, the use of defined terms is highlighted in CAPITAL LETTERS.
3. For all terms not defined in paragraph 1, reference is made to the definitions and notions contained in the articles of the LISF, the SEPA REGULATION and the IDP-IMEL REGULATION.

Title II
Objectives and preparation

Article I.II.1 – Purposes

1. This measure has the main purpose of revising the current legislation on the management of the National Payments System, specifically regarding the use of the ISO 20022 XML standard in the interbank leg for the exchange of SCT and SDD payment flows in line with SEPA standards and respecting the continuity and specificities provided for the management of SCT, SDD, SDD SMAC HOLDERS, SDD SMAC MERCHANTS instruments.

2. The settlement methods for payment instruments on interbank accounts are simultaneously defined, adopting the principle of gross settlement for each individual SCT instruction and for the value of each individual SDD flow exchanged on the RIS within the National Payments System.

3. In the context of updating the regulation on the National Payments System, corrections were also made to the existing provisions in both the IDP-IMEL REGULATION and the SEPA REGULATION.

Article I.II.2 – Consultation

1. The Regulation, in conformity with what is provided by Article 38, paragraph 5, of the LISF and the implementing Regulation No. 2006-02, was subject to prior consultation.

PART II
MANAGEMENT OF THE NATIONAL PAYMENTS SYSTEM
Title I
General Provisions

Article II.I.1 – Adherence to the National Payments System

1. Subjects authorized to provide payment services request adherence to the National Payments System by signing the adherence sheet to the various application families of the RIS.
2. Adherence to the National Payments System implies:

• acceptance of the norms in force from time to time, including the monetary settlement system on reciprocal accounts or, if not accessible, on ordinary accounts and centralized accounts;
• signing the contract referred to in the following Article II.I.4 paragraph 2.

3. Operations to and from the CENTRAL BANK are settled on the centralized account that adhering subjects maintain with it.
4. Adherents commit to maintaining the necessary liquidity on the centralized account held at the CENTRAL BANK so that disposed or received operations can be settled.

Article II.I.2 – Interbank settlement system

1. Each SCT instruction, exchanged in bulk with specific SCT flows within the National Payments System using the RIS, is settled on the settlement date on reciprocal accounts or, if not accessible, on ordinary accounts, if Payment Service Providers (PSP of the Payer and PSP of the Beneficiary) are involved, or on centralized accounts maintained by the latter at BCSM, when the latter is a party to the instruction (as PSP of the Payer or Beneficiary).
2. SDD collection instructions issued by the Broad Public Sector are exchanged in bulk with specific SDD flows within the National Payments System using the RIS.
3. The instructions referred to in the previous paragraph are settled on the maturity and settlement date by the CENTRAL BANK (PSP of the Beneficiary) on the centralized accounts maintained by national PSPs (PSP of the Payer) for the value of each individual SDD flow exchanged.

Article II.I.3 – Management costs of the National Payments System

1. The costs of managing the National Payments System are borne by the CENTRAL BANK in relation to systemic developments and structural adjustments to international requirements.
2. The CENTRAL BANK has the right to recover the costs referred to in the previous paragraph from system adherents; the contribution share borne by each adherent will be calculated in proportion to the levels of system usage, verified based on available data.
3. Costs related to participation in the various application families managed by the National Payments System, costs related to the use of messaging transport services and necessary infrastructure, are instead directly borne by adhering subjects, through payment of fees quantified by the technical manager of the RIS.

Article II.I.4 – Sammarinese Interbank Network (RIS)

1. The RIS is managed by the CENTRAL BANK using, currently, in conformity with Article 38 of Law No. 96/2005, a technical manager of the infrastructure, under contractual agreements that provide, among other things, the obligation of the aforementioned manager to implement and use adequate security systems and procedures, without prejudice to the confidentiality regime provided for in Article 29 of the aforementioned Law.
2. As a result of what is provided in the previous paragraph:
   a) adherents to the RIS are required to sign a specific service contract with the technical manager of the RIS; b) the technical manager of the RIS is required to provide the services requested by the adherent, also applying the same conditions already practiced by adherents to the National Payments System.

Article II.I.5 – Direct debit mandates

1. The Payer's consent to execute an SDD operation or a series of SDD operations is issued to the Beneficiary; this authorization is transmitted by the Payer to their Payment Service Provider.
2. SDD Mandates of the Broad Public Sector are not subject to management within the Payments System.
3. The retention of mandates conferred by the Payer within the scope of an SDD service lies with the Beneficiary. Such retention does not constitute a payment service and is not an activity reserved for payment service providers.

Article II.I.6 – Creditor Identifier

1. In messaging related to SDDs, the Beneficiary is coded based on the CREDITOR IDENTIFIER standard provided for the national system, the publication of which is available on the EPC website.

Article II.I.7 – International Bank Account Number (IBAN)

1. The settlement accounts for SCTs and SDDs are identified based on the IBAN standard, and such coordinates are always transmitted in SCT and SDD instructions.
2. The Payments System verifies the conformity of the IBAN by validating its content in line with the CIN (Numeric Identification Code) control rules.
3. The IBAN formalism used by the Republic of San Marino is published in the IBAN Register by SWIFT, as the registration authority delineated by ISO 13616.

Article II.I.8 – Bank Identifier Code (BIC)

1. SCT and SDD Payment Service Providers omit to ask Users of the same services for the coding of the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) as they derive such coding from the IBAN provided by the User themselves.
2. To this end, PSPs keep constantly updated the ABI-CAB reference tables of payment infrastructures (SIA tables), as well as SWIFT BIC codings and directories, or any additional tabular systems that allow the management of SEPA payment routing.

Article II.I.9 – Impediments due to force majeure

1. In cases where force majeure events occur, subjects adhering to the National Payments System may extend the terms incumbent upon them, expiring in the period between the date of occurrence of the impediment and the date on which the resumption of activity is declared, by as many days as the impediment itself lasted.
2. For this purpose, the subject who finds it impossible to meet the prescribed terms must immediately inform the CENTRAL BANK.

Title II
Specifics of the National Payments System

Article II.II.1 – National payments system (NPS)

1. The National Payments System is managed by the CENTRAL BANK and allows the channeling of payment instruments such as national credit transfers, direct debits of the Broad Public Sector, as well as domestic checks, collections and payments of the State Treasury and collections of the State Tax Office, within the service of daily contact exchange.

Article II.II.2 – Sepa Credit Transfer (SCT)

1. SCTs are transmitted by 22:00 on the WORKING DAY preceding the settlement date (D-1) from the PSP of the Payer to the National Payments System using the RIS infrastructure and respecting the RULEBOOKS.
2. SCTs are delivered by 08:00 on the scheduled settlement date (D) by the National Payments System to the PSP of the Beneficiary using the RIS infrastructure.
3. The PSP of the Beneficiary settles operations on the Beneficiary's Payment Accounts by the settlement date (D) of the SCT instruction.

Article II.II.3 – Sepa Direct Debit (SDD)

1. SDDs are transmitted by the CENTRAL BANK, in its capacity as PSP of the Beneficiary, to the National Payments System by 22:00 on the WORKING DAY preceding the maturity and settlement date (D-1), except as provided below for SDD SMAC MERCHANTS and SDD SMAC HOLDERS, using the RIS infrastructure and respecting the RULEBOOKS.
2. SDDs are delivered by 08:00 on the maturity and settlement date (D) by the National Payments System to the PSP of the Payer using the RIS infrastructure.
3. The PSP of the Payer settles operations on the Payer's Payment Accounts by the same maturity and settlement date (D) of the SDD instruction.
4. The characteristics of the SDD, based on the SEPA standard, provide for the possibility of returning the unpaid item or reversing the collection instruction; for this reason, the PSP of the Payer may enter into the National Payments System operations for unpaid items or reversals of SDDs, by 16:00 on the fifth WORKING DAY following the maturity and settlement date (D+5).

Article II.II.4 – SDD SMAC Merchants

1. SDD SMAC MERCHANTS are transmitted by the CENTRAL BANK, in its capacity as PSP of the Beneficiary, to the National Payments System by 15:00 on the maturity and settlement date (D), using the RIS infrastructure and respecting the RULEBOOKS.
2. SDD SMAC MERCHANTS are delivered by 15:00 on the maturity and settlement date (D) by the National Payments System to the PSP of the Payer using the RIS infrastructure.
3. The PSP of the Payer settles operations on the Payer's Payment Accounts by the same maturity and settlement date (D) of the SDD SMAC MERCHANTS instruction.
4. The characteristics of SDD SMAC MERCHANTS, based on contractual agreements, do not provide for the possibility of returning the unpaid item or reversing the collection instruction; for this reason, the PSP of the Payer cannot enter into the National Payments System operations for unpaid items or reversals of SDD SMAC MERCHANTS.

Article II.II.5 – SDD SMAC Holders

1. SDD SMAC HOLDERS are transmitted by the CENTRAL BANK, in its capacity as PSP of the Beneficiary, to the National Payments System by 22:00 on the WORKING DAY preceding the maturity and settlement date (D-1), using the RIS infrastructure and respecting the RULEBOOKS.
2. SDD SMAC HOLDERS are delivered by 08:00 on the maturity and settlement date