Close< Previous | Next >

 

Upcoming requirements for Intermediary and Beneficiary banks in payment instructions

Last updated: 2 August 2017

Effective 10 September 2017, all Priority Payments/Wire Transfers/Customer Transfers submitted via HSBCnet that include Intermediary bank information must include different Intermediary and Beneficiary bank details. From 10 September, HSBCnet will not accept payments that include the same Intermediary and Beneficiary bank identifier.

What you need to do

If your payment requires an Intermediary bank, make sure that your payment instructions include separate Intermediary and Beneficiary bank from 10 September. If you need to update the Intermediary bank details for a payment, please contact your beneficiary to request this information.

  • Payment templates with Intermediary bank details:
    To avoid delays or rejections, we recommend that you review and update your payment templates before 10 September to make sure that the Intermediary bank identifier is not the same as the Beneficiary bank identifier for an individual payment.

If a template contains the same Intermediary and Beneficiary bank identifier, you can either update your template before making your next payment or update the fields each time you use the template.

Reminder: when you update a Restricted template, you will need to have another user approve the updated template in the Payment Summary service before it can be used for payments.

  • Payments created on-screen in HSBCnet:
    As of 10 September, you will not be able to submit a payment instruction on HSBCnet that includes the same Intermediary and Beneficiary bank identifier. The following error message will be displayed on HSBCnet:

"Intermediary Bank and Beneficiary Bank cannot be the same"

To proceed with making the payment, you will need to update the payment instruction with a different Intermediary bank and re-submit the payment.

  • Payments submitted via HSBCnet’s File Upload service:
    Instruction Level Authorisation payment files that contain the same Intermediary bank and Beneficiary bank identifier will be rejected from 10 September. To avoid payment rejection, please review your payment files to make sure that the Intermediary and Beneficiary bank details are not the same.


Please note, the following payments will not be affected by this change and will continue to be processed as normal after 10 September:

  • Payments that are in Pending authorisation status on 10 September;
  • Future-dated payments authorised before 10 September; and
  • Standing Instructions authorised before 10 September.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. What is an Intermediary bank?
    The Intermediary bank is also known as the “Correspondent bank”. It is a third-party bank used by the beneficiary bank for facilitation of international transfers and settlement of funds.

  2. Do all international payments require an Intermediary bank?
    No, the payment beneficiary’s bank determines if an Intermediary bank is needed for a payment. If an Intermediary bank is required, your payment beneficiary needs to provide this information to you as part of the payment instruction.

  3. If my payment does not require an Intermediary bank, how do I format the payment instruction?
    If an Intermediary bank is not required for your payment, please leave the Intermediary bank field blank.

Find out more
For questions about updating your payment templates, please contact your local HSBCnet Support Centre.

Back to top | Close< Previous | Next >