For customers with accounts in the UAE: mandatory Purpose of Payment codes for all domestic and international payments

Last updated: 10 October 2017

Effective 1 January 2018, a valid Purpose of Payment code will be mandatory for all outward cross-border payments from accounts held with HSBC UAE.

This update is in line with the Central Bank of UAE directive and further to our recent communication regarding Purpose of Payment requirements for domestic payments. A valid Purpose of Payment code is required in the appropriate field from 1 January 2018 or your payment will be rejected by the system.

The full list of Purpose of Payment codes is available here >

We are also removing the GDS (Goods Bought and Sold) Purpose of Payment code from the list of accepted codes effective 1 January 2018.

If a valid Purpose of Payment code is not provided in the appropriate field (as per the below information), your transaction(s) will be rejected.

Action required by 1 January 2018

Use the Purpose of payment field to provide valid Purpose of Payment codes for your payment instructions. Further details of the changes can be found below:

Cross-border and domestic payments:
All domestic & cross-border payments, including third-party payments (MT101), require a valid Purpose of Payment code in the appropriate payment field as designated by the UAE Central Bank. The GDS Purpose of Payment code will no longer be supported. Please use the new list of payment codes to update your payment instructions accordingly.

Existing Payment Templates, Standing Instructions and forward-dated payments:
Please make sure that you update your existing templates, Standing Instructions and forward-dated payments to include valid Purpose of Payment codes. Any transactions dated from 1 January 2018 that don’t include a valid Purpose of Payment code (as per the list provided) will be rejected.

Restricted templates:
Please note that restricted templates that include the GDS Purpose of Payment code can’t be used to create payment instructions after 1 January. If you have any restricted templates that include GDS as the Purpose of Payment code, please contact your HSBCnet System Administrator to change the template with valid purpose of code.

Select here for details on how to include Purpose of Payment codes in your payments >

We expect the Central Bank of UAE to announce additional changes regarding international payments in 2017/2018. We will advise you once we receive further notification from the Central Bank.

For more information on Purpose of Payment requirements in the UAE, please contact your HSBC representative.