eBill vs. QR-Bill in Switzerland: Which Payment Method Should You Offer Clients?

Most Swiss invoices end with a QR-bill payment part. Increasingly they never touch paper: the invoice appears as an eBill directly in the client's e-banking, ready to approve.[2] The two are not rivals but layers of the same payment system — and the mix you offer decides how fast you get paid. Here is the comparison in plain terms.

What eBill is and how your clients use it

eBill is the digital invoice channel of SIX: the infrastructure runs on behalf of the Swiss banks, and its issuers range from large companies and public administration to SMEs.[2]

For the client, nothing is typed or scanned: the invoice arrives in their e-banking, where they check it and release it for payment.[2]

Clients activate it once — eBill sits in the "Payments" menu of their online banking — and add your company as an invoice issuer in the eBill portal.[5] They decide if and when the account is debited, or let recurring invoices be approved automatically.[5]

The reach is mainstream: eBill passed four million registered users in summer 2026 — more than half of Switzerland's adult population — after 93 million invoices in 2025, and over 110 banks connected.[1]

What the QR-bill covers that eBill cannot

The QR-bill (QR-Rechnung) is the document standard: in circulation since June 2020, it definitively replaced the old orange and red payment slips on 1 October 2022.[6]

Its Swiss QR code contains all the information needed for invoicing and payment, so a single scan pre-fills the transfer; the plain text beside it lets the recipient verify the data before approving.[6]

It works everywhere: printed or as a PDF, payable in any Swiss e-banking, at the counter or by mail. The recipient needs no registration and no specific bank.

That universality makes it the baseline for billing. Every client can pay a QR-bill, while an eBill only reaches clients who have activated the service and added you as an issuer.

How the two work together

The QR code was built for more than bank transfers: an "alternative procedures" element at its end holds up to two registered schemes, and eBill sits alongside TWINT on that list.[6]

A QR-bill can be made eBill-capable: it then carries additional data such as the payer's e-mail address in the "Alternative Schemes" field.[4]

Network partners can convert such an eBill-capable QR-bill in PDF form directly into an eBill invoice and deliver it over the eBill platform — one invoice file serving both channels.[4]

The practical set-up: keep the QR-bill as your default and let clients who prefer eBill switch over. Nobody is excluded, and your invoicing process stays a single one.

Costs and the mix that makes sense

For recipients, eBill is free: there are no transaction fees for users, and receiving invoices in online banking costs nothing.[2]

As a biller you cannot connect to SIX directly: you sign up through a certified network partner, and pricing is theirs to set.[2] PostFinance, for instance, charges CHF 0.40 per digital invoice up to 1,000 a month and CHF 0.35 up to 5,000, net of VAT.[3]

SMEs on the receiving side benefit too: eBill invoices can be processed in online banking — with several employees authorised to view, approve or reject them — or fed directly into the accounting software via EBICS.[2]

The sensible default for a small business: a QR-bill on every invoice, eBill added once you bill many recurring consumer invoices — rent, memberships, retainers. Invite clients to add you in their eBill portal; an eBill-capable QR-bill makes the switch seamless. facturio generates the Swiss-compliant QR-bill for every invoice, so the baseline never slips while you test eBill. Sources: [1] eBill news, the 4-million mark; [2] eBill business FAQ (ebill.ch); [3] PostFinance, eBill pricing for billers; [4] SIX PAY, the QR-bill and eBill duo; [5] eBill private FAQ (ebill.ch); [6] SIX, QR-bill standard.