During the course of various SEPA implementations I started to realise that the BIC (Bank Identifier Code) requirement was something to get an understanding of early. The BIC value is one which has various requirements depending on country, transaction type and bank. This post runs through the requirements and highlights three ways in which the BIC can be populated.
1. What does Regulation 260/2012 say?
Regulation 260/2012 states that the BIC code must be stated for:
- National payment transactions until 1st February, 2014
- Since the SEPA deadline has been extended, lets assume this requirement has been extended till 1st August, 2014
- The Regulation, via Article 16.6, does give countries the ability to waive this requirement, and continue to specify the BIC value for national credit transfers and direct debits until February 2016
- Cross border payment instructions until 1st February, 2016
The Waiver, via Article 16.6, until February 2016 allowing continued use of BIC for national credit transfers / direct debits:
- Yes – Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Malta, Portugal,
- No – Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
2. Validating the SEPA BIC value
You should validate your SEPA BIC values via the EBA Clearing website – check out my Must Visit Website for Any SEPA Implementation post for further details…
3. Populating the BIC Value in the SEPA Credit Transfer / SEPA Direct Debit XML:
I will repeat this many times, but you should not assume that the bank can support all of the below. Check with your bank what they can support, but be aware of the above Regulation requirements and question your bank if they’re not adhering to them. The XML syntax you need to indicate is highlighted:
1. If you indicate the Creditor / Debtor BIC, you need to indicate the following tags:
<CdtrAgt> or <DbtrAgt>
<FinInstnId>
<BIC>ABCDEFGH</BIC>
</FinInstnId>
</CdtrAgt> or </DbtrAgt>
This is tried and tested, and works across all banks. The only issue with this is that you need to indicate the correct BIC!!
2. If you don’t indicate the Creditor Agent <CdtrAgt> or Debtor Agent <DbtrAgt> block at all, you are assuming the bank / Payment Service Provider will be able to determine the BIC based on the sent IBAN value
Don’t assume anything, check with you bank if they can support this…
3. Lastly you can indicate NOTPROVIDED and let the bank determine the BIC based on the sent IBAN value:
Be aware of which XML format / version you’re using and indicate the appropriate XML syntax.
Don’t assume anything, check with you bank if they can support this…!!!!
The following syntax should be used for SEPA Credit Transfer PAIN.001.001.03 and SEPA Direct Debit PAIN.008.001.02
<CdtrAgt> or <DbtrAgt>
<FinInstnId>
<Othr>
<Id>NOTPROVIDED</Id>
</Othr>
</FinInstnId>
</CdtrAgt> or </DbtrAgt>
The following syntax should be used for SEPA Credit Transfer PAIN.001.001.02
<CdtrAgt> or <DbtrAgt>
<FinInstnId>
<PrtryId>
<Id>NOTPROVIDED</Id>
</PrtryId>
</FinInstnId>
</CdtrAgt> or </DbtrAgt>
That’s my list of SEPA BIC information you ought to know about. Let me know in the comments if I have missed anything… !