Bahrain accounts: Purpose of Payment codes required for all cross-border payments beginning 1 June 2021

Last updated: 3 June 2021

In agreement with local regulators, the deadline for requiring Purpose of Payment codes for cross-border payments from HSBC accounts in Bahrain has been delayed until September 2021.

Beginning 1 June 2021, in accordance with local regulations, Purpose of Payment codes will be required for cross-border payments being sent from your HSBC accounts in Bahrain.

What this means for you

From 1 June, any cross-border payment sent from your HSBC accounts in Bahrain without a valid Purpose of Payment, may be delayed or rejected.

Note: there’s no change to Purpose of Payment code requirements for domestic payments in Bahrain.

View full list of Purpose of Payment codes for your cross-border payments >

To avoid any delays in sending your cross-border payments, we recommend that you review and, if necessary, update your payments to include valid Purpose of Payment codes as follows:

• On-screen payments in HSBCnet:
  From 1 June, you’ll need to include the Purpose of Payment code in the ‘Regulatory requirements’ section, along with the ‘/ORDERRES/’ codeword.
• General or Restricted templates:
  Review and update your cross-border payment templates and make sure they include a valid Purpose of Payment code by 1 June.
• Standing instructions and forward-dated payments:
  Review and update your cross-border standing instructions or forward-dated payments before 1 June to make sure a valid Purpose of Payment code is included.
• File upload or HSBC Connect
  From 1 June, your cross-border payment files uploaded using File upload or HSBC Connect must include a valid Purpose of Payment code.

How to include Purpose of Payment codes in your cross-border payments >

Reminder: when you update a Restricted template, standing instruction, or forward-dated payment, you’ll need to have another user approve the changes in the Authorisation summary service before the updates will be applied.

Find out more

If you have any questions, please contact your local HSBCnet Support Centre.