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Understand · Payroll glossary

What is a structured payment reference?

Updated on

A structured payment reference is a Belgian payment reference of 12 digits, in the format +++123/4567/89012+++, whose last two digits serve as a check. In Dutch: gestructureerde mededeling (OGM).

Definition of the structured payment reference

It lets the recipient of a transfer match the payment automatically to the right invoice or file. The first 10 digits are free; the last 2 are the remainder of their division by 97 (97 if that remainder is 0).

A typing error in one digit is thus detected by your bank before the transfer is sent.

The key figure in 2026

12 digitsFormat of the structured payment reference: 10 digits and 2 check digits (modulo 97)

Source: Standard AOS1 ‘Structured Remittance Information OGM-VCS’, version 1.2 (27 July 2017), Febelfin. Value in force on 1 October 2026.

Worked example

In +++010/8068/17183+++, the first 10 digits 0108068171 divided by 97 leave a remainder of 83: these are indeed the last two digits. Change a single digit, and the check no longer works.

In Dutch: gestructureerde mededeling (OGM)

On a Dutch-language invoice, bank statement or business document, the structured payment reference is called ‘gestructureerde mededeling (OGM)’; on a French-language one, ‘communication structurée’. On Indexo’s English pages: structured payment reference.

Dutch term taken from: Bolero (KBC) (secondary source).

Not to be confused with…

  • Free-form reference: free text (‘invoice 2026-123’) that the bank does not check: it has to be matched by hand.

Calculate it for your situation

Create or check a +++123/4567/89012+++ reference (modulo 97).

Structured payment reference

Related terms

Sources

Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.