Swiss companies asking about e-invoicing quickly run into two names: eBill and PEPPOL. They are often presented as alternatives, which leads to the natural question — which one do we need? The honest answer is that they solve different problems, and most mid-sized businesses will eventually use both. But if you are just getting started, understanding what each channel is actually for will save you from implementing the wrong thing first.
What eBill is and who it is designed for
eBill is the Swiss national e-invoicing network operated by SIX. It connects billers — the companies sending invoices — to payers through the payer's own e-banking interface. When you send an invoice via eBill, your customer receives it inside their online banking, reviews it, and approves it for payment without ever leaving their bank's application.
The key characteristic of eBill is that it is built around the payer experience, not the sender's infrastructure. Your customer does not need to have any special software or ERP integration. They use their existing e-banking. This makes eBill particularly well-suited for invoicing private individuals and small businesses — the segment where getting a customer to set up technical infrastructure is not realistic.
eBill today reaches around 3 million registered payers in Switzerland, primarily through the major retail banks (UBS, Raiffeisen, PostFinance, Kantonalbanken). If your customers are Swiss consumers or small businesses doing their banking online, eBill is the most direct route to getting them to pay digitally.
There is also a compliance dimension. From 2026, Swiss federal government agencies are required to accept e-invoices, and eBill is one of the two approved channels for B2G invoicing alongside PEPPOL. If you invoice any federal bodies, eBill registration is worth having. We cover the federal mandate in detail in the 2026 B2G e-invoicing overview.
What PEPPOL is and who it is designed for
PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line) is an international network infrastructure for exchanging business documents — primarily invoices — between organisations. Where eBill is a Swiss-only consumer-oriented channel, PEPPOL is a standards-based network connecting businesses and public sector buyers across Europe and beyond.
PEPPOL uses a four-corner model: your access point sends documents to your customer's access point, with each party registered in a central directory. The invoice format is standardised (PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0, based on UBL 2.1 or UN/CEFACT CII), and SwissDIGIN extends this standard to cover Swiss-specific requirements like the UID company number and Swiss VAT rules.
PEPPOL is the right channel for business-to-business and business-to-government invoicing where both parties have ERP systems or financial software. It is also the infrastructure behind most cross-border e-invoicing in Europe — if you are a Swiss company invoicing German, French, or Dutch customers, PEPPOL is how you do it electronically. We cover the cross-border case in PEPPOL for cross-border invoicing.
The practical differences
Beyond the design philosophy, there are concrete operational differences that will affect your decision:
Recipient coverage. eBill covers Swiss consumers and businesses via their bank. PEPPOL covers businesses and public sector buyers that have registered as PEPPOL participants. The two populations overlap only partially. A large Swiss manufacturer invoicing both retail customers and industrial B2B clients needs both channels.
Technical requirements. To send via eBill, you register with an eBill service provider and connect your billing system to their API or use a portal for low volumes. To send via PEPPOL, you connect to a PEPPOL access point — typically a service provider — and generate invoices in the PEPPOL BIS format. PEPPOL has a higher initial technical bar, but if your ERP vendor supports it natively, the ongoing effort is low.
Invoice format. eBill delivers invoices in a proprietary SIX format internally; what matters to you is what your service provider accepts on the sending side (usually PDF plus structured data, or a direct ERP integration). PEPPOL requires a conformant XML invoice, which means you need to either generate it yourself or have your ERP or service provider do it.
Feedback and approval workflow. eBill has an explicit approval step — the payer approves the invoice in their e-banking before payment. This is good for cash flow predictability but adds a step. PEPPOL is purely a delivery mechanism; once the invoice is delivered, what happens next is between you and your customer. There is no built-in approval flow.
Cross-border reach. eBill is Switzerland only. PEPPOL reaches buyers in over 35 countries. If international invoicing is on your roadmap, PEPPOL is the infrastructure to build on.
The federal B2G mandate: eBill or PEPPOL?
For Swiss federal government invoicing, you can use either eBill or PEPPOL — the federal administration accepts both. In practice, if you already have a PEPPOL connection for B2B invoicing, using it for federal invoices too makes sense. If you are a smaller supplier with no existing PEPPOL setup, eBill is the simpler path to comply with the mandate.
Cantonal and municipal procurement is a different story. The picture varies significantly across cantons — some are on eBill, some are on PEPPOL, and some are still on paper. The cantonal e-invoicing guide covers the current state in more detail.
A decision framework
Rather than picking one channel based on features, work backwards from your customer base:
If more than half your invoices go to Swiss private individuals or small businesses without dedicated AP teams, start with eBill. The reach is there, the payer experience is smooth, and the technical setup is manageable even for companies without IT resources.
If your invoice volume is predominantly B2B, your customers have ERP systems, or you are already invoicing EU-based customers or public sector buyers, start with PEPPOL. The format investment pays off more broadly.
If you send high volumes to both segments — which is common for utilities, telecoms, and professional services firms — plan for both from the start and look for a service provider that handles both channels through a single integration. Running two separate integrations with separate providers is expensive and creates maintenance overhead.
What about ZUGFeRD and QR-Rechnung?
ZUGFeRD and QR-Rechnung are not channels — they are formats. A ZUGFeRD invoice is a hybrid PDF with embedded XML that can be sent via email, PEPPOL, or any other transport. A QR-Rechnung is a paper or PDF invoice with a Swiss QR payment section. Neither replaces eBill or PEPPOL as a delivery channel; they are complementary.
If a customer is not on eBill or PEPPOL, sending them a ZUGFeRD PDF by email is a reasonable intermediate step — they get a human-readable invoice, and you get the option to send the same file through eBill or PEPPOL when they eventually onboard. The comparison of ZUGFeRD and XRechnung goes into more detail on when the format choice matters.
The short version
Use eBill to reach Swiss consumers and small businesses through their e-banking. Use PEPPOL to connect with businesses and public sector buyers that have ERP systems, including cross-border customers. For most growing Swiss companies, the question is not which one — it is which one to implement first.