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Action required: new Payment Purpose code requirements for Bahrain domestic Priority Payment and ACH Credit payments

The Central Bank of Bahrain has recently announced that all banks in Bahrain need to implement Electronic Funds Transfer System (EFTS) - a national electronic payments system inter-connecting all retail banks, for their customers (Personal and Corporate) and Bill Originators. EFTS services are accessible through the banks' various channels, including HSBCnet.

As part of this enhancement, there is a new mandatory requirement to include a valid Purpose of Payment for all domestic payment instructions which are sent to HSBC.

Effective 19 June, domestic payment instructions submitted on-screen or via File Upload without a valid Payment Purpose code will be rejected.

Important note: Forward dated payment instructions cannot be modified. If payment details need to be changed, the instruction will need to be cancelled and re-created. Any domestic payment instruction created before 19 June 2016 with a future value date of 19 June 2016 or later will need to be cancelled and re-created on or after 19 June 2016.

The list of Payment Purpose codes and descriptions available 19 June:

Code	Description
001	Ordinary transfers
020	Fee Payment
021	Salary payment
022	Generic Bill Payment
023	Top-up of Prepaid Account
024	Transfer from Prepaid Account to Bank Account
025	Credit Card Settlement
026	Pension
027	Dividends
028	Interest Received
029	Loan Installment
030	Rental
031	Charity Payments

Customers making on-screen payments in HSBCnet

Priority Payments:
As of 19 June, the mandatory Payment Purpose code field will be included in the “Regulatory reporting” section of your Priority Payment instruction and template screens.

In the Regulatory reporting section, select ‘/BENEFRES/’ and ‘BH Bahrain’ from the two drop down lists. Select the “Add Payment Purpose code” button and select the appropriate code from the list for your payment.

(Select image to enlarge)

ACH Credit payments:
From 19 June, the following fields will become mandatory in the ACH Credit payment instruction screen for payments from your Bahraini debit accounts:

New mandatory field
Purpose of Payment	Payment Purpose code is a mandatory field
New optional field
Remittance information	This field can be used to provide details for the payment and will accept up to 140 characters.

In addition, several labels on the ‘Create new ACH Payment’ screen will be changed to ensure payment instruction information is more acurate and easier to complete.

Changes to field labels effective 19 June
Existing Field Labels	New Labels
Second Party ID	Beneficiary ID
Second Party Name	Beneficiary Name
Bank Number	Beneficiary Bank Identifier
Reference	Beneficiary Reference

Updated ACH Credit screen (effective 19 June):

(Select image to enlarge)

The look and feel for the ‘Review’, ‘Acknowledgement’, ‘Authorisation Summary’, ‘Authorisation’ and ‘Partial Authorisation’ screens have also been updated to reflect the above described changes but remainder of the  functionality remains intact.

Please note that after 19 June 2016, when attempting to create a payment instruction using general/restricted templates, the instruction will be displayed using the new input screen and the new fields will be editable. In addition to the above changes, from 19 June 2016, HSBCnet ACH Credit payment instruction screens will be enhanced to support the industry standard SWIFT Bank Identification Codes (BIC) for accounts domiciled in Bahrain.

• View details on SWIFT BIC enhancement for Bahrain ACH Credit payments

Customers making payments using the File Upload service
The table below outlines the Payment Purpose code information for payment files uploaded via HSBCnet File Upload:

File format	Payment type	Payment Purpose code field
XML v3	ACHCR	<RgltryRptg><Dtls><Cd>3 letter purpose code</Cd></Dtls></RgltryRptg>
	PP	<RgltryRptg><Dtls><Inf>/BENEFRES/BH//3 letter purpose code</Inf></Dtls></RgltryRptg>
XML v2	ACHCR	<RgltryRptg><RgltryDtls><Inf>3 letter purpose code</Inf></RgltryDtls></RgltryRptg>
	PP	<RgltryRptg><RgltryDtls><Inf>/BENEFRES/BH//3 letter purpose code</Inf></RgltryDtls></RgltryRptg>
iFile	ACHCR	SECPTY(Field 65) populate '3 letter purpose code'
	PP	SECPTY(Field 65) populate /BENEFRES/BH//3 letter purpose code
MEABASIC	ACHCR	Column No AK - 3 letter purpose code
	PP	Column No 'BD' - populate /BENEFRES/BH//3 letter purpose code
PAYMUL (CRG)	ACHCR	Group 15 - GIS+37' followed by FTX+ABY+++3 letter purpose code Element - C108-4440
	PP	Group 15 - Free text[1] - GIS+37' followed by FTX+ABY+++/BENEFRES/BH//3 letter purpose code Element' Element - C108-4440
MT103	PP only	Tag 77B - populate /BENEFRES/BH//3 letter purpose code

For additional information on including Payment Purpose codes in your Bahraini domestic payments, please contact your local HSBCnet Support Centre or your HSBC representative.

 

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