Customers with accounts in the UAE: mandatory new Purpose of Payment codes

Last updated: 2 August 2017

In support of recent changes announced by the Central Bank of UAE, effective 10 September 2017, a valid Purpose of Payment code will be mandatory for all domestic ACH Credit, Priority Payments and Customer Transfers (where the debit account is held with HSBC UAE).

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

Please note, there are 5 old Purpose of Payment codes (REM, MIS, RBC, ROC and INV) that will be removed from the accepted codes list effective 10 September 2017.

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 10 September 2017

Use the Purpose of payment field instead of the beneficiary reference field to provide valid Purpose of Payment codes for your HSBCnet payment instructions (details provided below).

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

ACH Credit transactions:
Please use the Purpose of payment field instead of the beneficiary reference field to provide valid Purpose of Payment codes for your payment instructions. If a valid Purpose of payment code is not mentioned in the Purpose of payment field, your transaction will be rejected.
Wages Protection System (WPS) transactions:
For WPS transactions, please use the WPS-specific screens and WPS-specific file formats only (i.e. SIF, XML V3 & iFile WPS format). If you're using an ACH Credit supported file format (i.e. XML V2, iFile, MEABASIC & PAYMUL) to initiate a WPS transaction, a Purpose of Payment code will be mandatory.
Domestic Priority Payments and Customer Transfers:
These transactions already require a valid Purpose of Payment code. Please use the new list of payment codes to update your payment instructions accordingly.
Request for Transfer (MT101) from other Banks :
These transactions already require a valid Purpose of Payment code. Please use the new list of payment codes to update your payment files accordingly.
Existing Payment Templates, Standing Instructions and forward-dated payments:
Please make sure you update your existing templates, Standing Instructions and forward-dated payments on HSBCnet to include the valid Purpose of Payment codes. From 10 September 2017, any transactions submitted using templates that include the 5 old Purpose of Payment codes will be rejected on HSBCnet.

Restricted templates:
Please note that any restricted templates that include the 5 old Purpose of Payment codes can't be used to create payment instructions on HSBCnet. If you have existing restricted templates that include the 5 old Purpose of Payment codes, please contact your HSBCnet System Administrator to modify the template with a valid payment purpose code.

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

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