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SEPA AM04

Insufficient funds

Category: Amount & Funds R-type: Return

SCT

Applies

SCT Inst

Applies

SDD Core

Applies

SDD B2B

Applies

Retryable

Yes (1–2 retries with interval)

Generated by

Debtor bank (SDD) or beneficiary bank context (SCT/SCT Inst return of a related recall/adjustment).

ISO 20022 definition

Amount of funds available to cover specified message amount is insufficient.

Typical cause

Account balance was below the collection or payment amount at settlement. In several jurisdictions (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland) this code is masked and returned as MS03 instead, per EPC data-protection guidance.

What to do about it

Retry per policy (1–2 retries with an interval, typically 3–5 banking days later); notify the customer; consider a payment plan on repeat failures. Never retry more than twice without customer engagement.

Rulebook note

Same meaning across all four rulebooks. See the MS03 entry for the data-protection masking that substitutes AM04 in eight SEPA countries.

Confidence: high. Sourced from PaymentBrief's SEPA R-transaction reference article, cross-verified against ISO 20022 external code sets and EPC guidance documents. Reason-code applicability and timing windows vary by rulebook version and bank handling — verify against your bank or PSP before acting.

Full reference

SEPA Return and Reject Codes: The R-Transaction Reference

Related codes

AM02

Amount exceeds agreed limit

AM05

Duplicate payment / collection

AM09

Wrong amount