Qatar accounts: Purpose of Payment information will be mandatory for foreign currency and cross-border payments starting 14 June

Last updated: 7 April 2020

Beginning 14 June 2020, in accordance with local regulations, all foreign currency and cross-border payments sent from Qatar accounts must include a valid Purpose of Payment description.

The Qatar Central Bank has not provided any Purpose of Payment codes or descriptions. Instead, you’ll need to provide Purpose of Payment information which describes the nature of the payment. The Purpose of Payment description is required in the appropriate fields for the following payment types:

Priority Payments/Customer Transfers
Inter-account Transfers

Note: This is in addition to the domestic QAR payments, which have required Purpose of Payment information since 15 June 2019.

This requirement applies for payments submitted on-screen or using File Upload in HSBCnet, and via HSBC Connect.

What this means for you

Starting 14 June, all of your foreign currency and cross-border payments from Qatar must have valid and relevant Purpose of Payment information or your payments will be rejected.

To avoid payment rejections after 14 June, we recommend including valid Purpose of Payment details now. These details can be included in the ‘Additional details’ section of your payment instructions as follows:

Priority Payments/Customer Transfers and Inter-account Transfers:
All Foreign Currency and Cross-Border Payments, MT103s, including third-party payments (MT101) and HSBC Inter-account Transfers require a valid Purpose of Payment description.
Standing Instructions and Forward-dated payments:
Existing Standing Instructions and Forward-dated payments from Qatar need to be reviewed and valid Purpose of Payment description to be included.
General and Restricted Templates:
If you have any Foreign Currency and Cross-Border Payments templates from Qatar debit accounts, we recommend that you update them with valid Purpose of Payment descriptions.
Reminder: if you update a Restricted Template, another individual with account permissions must authorize the change in order for the template to be updated.

Learn how to include Purpose of Payment information >

Find out more

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