For customers with accounts in Oman: regulatory requirements for ACH payments submitted via File Upload

Last updated: 27 September 2017

From 18 November 2017, you will need to update your ACH payments from Omani accounts submitted via File Upload to incorporate new requirements. We are also introducing new options for your ACH payments from accounts in Oman.

We are implementing these changes in support of local payment system updates mandated by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO).

What’s changing?

The following information outlines what you will need to do to update your ACH payment files from 18 November 2017:

Mandatory Purpose of Payment code requirements for ACH Credit transactions
A valid Purpose of Payment code will be mandatory for all of your ACH Credit (Autopay-out/ACH Direct Credit) transactions.

ACH Credit payments without a valid Purpose of Payment code will be rejected from 18 November 2017.

Full list Purpose of Payment codes available here >

Requirement for SWIFT BIC in your ACH transactions
SWIFT BIC addresses will be required in the beneficiary bank identifier field for all of your ACH transactions.

The current bank codes (CBID) will no longer be supported after 18 November. You will need to replace any CBID codes in your ACH payments with the corresponding SWIFT BIC codes.

Full list SWIFT BIC codes available here >

Salary payments using Wages Protection System (WPS)
Wages Protection System (WPS) is a comprehensive oversight system for salary payments in Oman. WPS collects, stores, and provides information to the Ministry of Manpower about wages issued to your employees.

If you’re required to make salary payments to your employees through WPS, you can start submitting ACH Credit payment files using the new Salary Information File (SIF) format from 18 November 2017. You can also submit WPS payments using any of the following file formats:

MEABASIC
iFile
XML v3.0

New Direct Debit (ACH Debit) payments
You will be able to use ACH Debit payments to collect funds from another party without them issuing you a separate payment. You can initiate ACH Debit payments when the payer has provided appropriate authorisations to their bank.

Find out more
If you have questions about the upcoming changes for Oman ACH payments submitted via File Upload, or to obtain updated Message Implementation Guides, please contact your HSBC Client Services or Global Liquidity Cash Management (GLCM) representative.