Updated HSBCnet payments service: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We’re redesigning the HSBCnet payments service to provide you with a more streamlined, easy-to-use payment creation experience. The following FAQs will help you understand the key changes and create payments using the updated HSBCnet screens.

1. What are the changes to the ‘Debit account’ field?

The ‘Debit account’ field will be called ‘Pay from’ on the new screens and now allows you to change the debit account during the payment creation process.

This new drop-down field displays more information than previously available including: account currency, country and institution. You can see all accounts that you have permission to view on HSBCnet. When searching for a specific account, the search results will display as you type in the account name.

2. What are the changes to the ‘Beneficiary account number’ fields?

Beneficiary details can now be provided in the new ‘Pay to’ section of the updated screens. The field names and validation rules have been updated:

Current HSBCnet field name	New HSBCnet field name
Beneficiary Account Number or IBAN	Account Number or IBAN
Beneficiary Account Number

The new screens don’t include the IBAN check box ‘Require IBAN validation’. HSBCnet will automatically validate the IBAN, when provided. The field length and country code will be checked to determine if they are valid. If you attempt to submit a payment with an invalid IBAN, an error message will display and you will need to verify the IBAN and re-create the payment.

Note that these validation rules also apply to any intermediary bank account number provided.

To ensure that payments are processed quickly, ‘Account number’ is now a mandatory field.

3. Has the ‘Charges’ field been updated and will it impact templates?

The ‘Charges’ field is now a drop-down list with 3 options: ‘Beneficiary pays’, ‘Sender pays’ and ‘Share’. The default setting for this field is ‘Share’.

If your template includes a different charge option, the new screen will apply the option that you’ve specified.

If either the ‘Debit account’ (‘Pay from’) or the ‘Beneficiary’ (‘Pay to’) account is in the one of the PSD2 countries (countries in the EU covered by the Payment Services Directive), then you must use ‘Share’. You’ll need to update your templates to reflect this.

If neither the ‘Debit account’ (‘Pay from’) nor the ‘Beneficiary’ (‘Pay to’) accounts are in a PSD2 country, all 3 charge options will be available.

4. How do I specify the correct value date (the processing date) for my payment on the new screens?

You now have 3 options when selecting a value date for your payment:

1) As soon as possible: the payment system will select the earliest value date available (considering local cut-off and processing cycle times). If no option is selected, this will be used as the default.

2) On a specific date: specify the date by in-putting text or selecting from the calendar.

3) At regular intervals: specify the recurring intervals at which you’d like your payment to be processed.

Note – when selecting a specific value date, the date is subject to the following conditions:

- cannot be earlier than today
- later than the cut-off time today
- no more than 45 days in the future
- must be on a bank working day in both the debit account and currency location(s)

5. Has there been a change to my payment reference?

The field name and validation rules have been updated:

Current HSBCnet field name	New HSBCnet field name
Reference for your account	Your reference

This field supports the SWIFT character set. If no reference is provided, the payment system will populate with the payment IRN (Instruction Reference Number).

For US Accounts (debit and/or credit), this field cannot start or end with a slash ‘/’ and must not contain two consecutive slashes ‘//’.

6. Can I still specify the payment amount in the equivalent currency?

Yes, you can specify the amount using two options: ‘By currency’ and ‘By currency equivalent’. The options look like this:

Your default currency, and the last 4 currencies you used, will be available at the top of the drop-down list so you can quickly select your currency.

To avoid any errors, you’ll need to update any ‘Restricted’ templates by removing the ‘equivalent amount’, or by creating a new ‘Restricted’ template.

7. My Priority Payment template shows a blank debit account on the new screens. What should I do?

If you notice that your country isn’t listed in the drop-down field for your ‘General’ or ‘Restricted’ templates, you’ll need to create a new template with a debit account selected.

In some cases, when creating a new ‘Restricted’ template, you may be re-directed to the old view of HSBCnet in order to complete the payment. This is because not all countries have had their HSBCnet experience updated.

No changes have been made to your existing entitlements if you create payments from your ‘Restricted’ templates. If there’s a problem, please contact your HSBCnet System Administrator.

8. Why are there new character limits in the ‘Information for the beneficiary’ field?

When making a payment, if you use a codeword in the ‘Information for the beneficiary’ field, there will be new character limits for that field. We’re introducing these character limits to stay in line with international payment standards (SWIFT transactions).

If you enter a reference that exceeds the new character limit, you’ll see a pop-up to remind you.

You won’t need to change the way you enter references if they usually have more than 16 characters. You’ll just need to remove any codewords.

Here are the new character limits for each of the codewords:

• RFB – 16 characters
• INV – 30 characters
• IPI – 20 characters
• ROC – 30 characters
• TSU – no limit

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