French Bank Change Notice Letter for Supplier Direct Debits

The EPC SEPA Core Direct Debit Rulebook (2024 version) requires any mandate amendment to be processed before the settlement date. For SEPA Core first-time or one-off debits (FRST/OOFF sequences), the bank submission deadline is 5 banking business days before the due date (D-5). For recurring Core debits (RCUR), it drops to 2 business days (D-2). For SEPA B2B direct debits, the cut-off is 1 business day (D-1). In practice, send the letter at least 10 calendar days before the next payment date to allow for postal transit and the creditor's internal processing.

The RUM (Référence Unique de Mandat — the unique mandate reference) is assigned by the creditor, not your bank. Under Annex II of EU Regulation No 260/2012 and EPC rules, the creditor may retain the same RUM when only the debtor's account changes, provided they annotate the existing mandate. Some creditors prefer to issue a new RUM instead. The RUM can be up to 35 alphanumeric characters. Clarify this directly with your supplier before sending the letter to avoid a technical rejection at settlement.

The bank returns the transaction with an ISO 20022 return code — AC04 for a closed account, AM04 for insufficient funds. For business accounts, rejection fees typically range from €5 to €30 per transaction under the applicable banking terms. Repeated incidents can lead to a supplier suspending the commercial relationship and issuing a formal payment demand under Article L.441-10 of the French Code de commerce, which governs late-payment obligations between businesses.

No French law requires registered mail for this notification. However, Article 9 of the Code de procédure civile and general contractual-proof principles strongly recommend retaining enforceable evidence of sending. Use an LRAR (lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception — registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt) or an email with written confirmation if your contract requires it. Keep proof of dispatch for at least 5 years, matching the commercial prescription period under Article L.110-4 of the Code de commerce.

Not entirely. Under Article L.312-1-7 of the Code monétaire et financier, your new bank must forward notifications to your creditors for 13 months after your old account closes — but only for direct debits that appeared in that account's transaction history. Any supplier mandate established outside that scope, or any mandate requiring a formal contractual update, still requires you to send a dedicated notification letter directly to the creditor.

The letter must include: the debtor's full identity (company name, SIREN number, registered address), the mandate reference (RUM and the creditor's ICS — Identifiant Créancier SEPA — if available), the old IBAN, the new IBAN in SEPA format (27 characters for France), the new bank's BIC (8 or 11 characters), the requested effective date, and the signature of the legal representative. The account holder name must exactly match the original mandate — any discrepancy can trigger an ISO 20022 code MD01 rejection (mandate not recognised, as defined in the SEPA Core Direct Debit Rulebook EPC016-06 version 2024), blocking future debits until a new mandate is signed.