Faster Payments enablement guide Agency Bank
Faster Payments mandatory reach to be completed by end of 2011 Background From 1 January 2012, the UK s Payment Services Regulations require all qualifying payments between payment service providers to arrive the next working day. To achieve compliance all sort codes which can receive Bacs Credits must also be able to receive Faster Payments. The CHAPS Company, which operates the Faster Payments service, has mandated this with the backing of the FSA and Bank of England. Progress will be monitored across the industry. NatWest is also reviewing its Faster Payment limits to ensure that non-compliant payments can be sent as Faster Payments. As an Agency we are sure you are already aware of these messages and have given some consideration to what is required of you in advance of 2012. What you need to do Your sort code(s), as detailed in the covering email has (have) been identified as Bacs addressable sort codes and are required to become Faster Payments enabled before the end of December 2011. The FSA has clearly indicated that non-compliant payments, with execution timescales longer than D+1, will not be acceptable from 1 January 2012 and that all payment services providers (Agency Banks and Member banks) are responsible for ensuring compliance on this, including payments sent to non Faster Payments reachable sort codes. Decisions This Faster Payments enablement guide contains all the information you need to help you decide when to receive your Datalink* files. When you have considered the changes required to your internal systems and processes, you will need to complete and return the enclosed Additional services/amendment Form. Next steps If you have any further questions not covered by this guide, please email: FPSwitchon@natwest.com *Datalink will in the future be known as Bankline Exchange due to the migration of Datalink services onto Bankline Exchange channels. For the purpose of this document we will refer to it under the generic name Datalink. 2
Receiving Faster Payments Impact Your sort code will be enabled on the Industry Sort Code Directory (ISCD). You will be able to receive Faster Payments for your customers. Funds availability Funds that are received via Faster Payments on an intra-day basis will be available for use as soon as they are applied to your settlement account. As entries are received, the value of these will be added to the accumulating balance of your account which will be viewable via Bankline, our internet banking service or Bankline Exchange. Customers using Bankline will have access to an intra-day balance for each Agency Clearing sort code. This balance will increase throughout the day as Faster Payments are received. After 18.30 each day, payments already received into your sort code/s will be posted to the associated settlement account and the intra-day balance will be reset to zero. Any payments received after this time will start accumulating as part of the next day s balance. Statement changes new bulk credit A new bulk credit will be posted to your settlement account each day for Faster Payments. To ensure you can reconcile all payments received into your Agency clearing sort code, the bulk credit cut off time will be 18.30 daily and the bulk credit will be posted overnight to your settlement account. Payments received after 18.30 on working days or on weekends and English bank holidays will show on your statement as the next working day, for example a payment received on a Saturday will be shown as a Monday statement entry. Like today, where there are separate bulk credits for Bacs and credit clearing incoming payments, a new bulk credit will be posted for all Faster Payments received. This bulk credit is only generated on English bank working days. The payment details that make up this bulk credit are available via your Datalink file. The narrative for the bulk credit will show that it relates to Faster Payments and the sort code. The narrative will be shown as: FP SETLMT xxxxxx (your sort code). 3
Faster Payments Data file changes As indicated, when you enable your sort code for Faster Payments, there will be some changes to your data files and settlement transactions for the Datalink service. The impacts of these are summarised below. Data files As payments may be received intra-day and will contain more sender information, we will provide you with data in the Faster Payment file format (ISO8583) and options to increase the frequency that you receive your data. As payments will be received in near real time, you will need to consider when you will update your customers accounts. Unlike your existing data file, the Faster Payments value date is the same date as the file; whereas Bacs Credits and/or Paper Credit Clearing are the business day after the file is made available. Your existing data file is provided on Day 2 of the 3-day clearing cycle. File Format For Faster Payments transactions you will be required to accept the file in ISO8583 format. To assist you we have provided information on the ISO8583 format in Appendix B and a full file format is included in your enablement pack. Separate Faster Payments file(s) Faster Payments received at NatWest will be batched periodically during the day and can be made available to you in Faster Payments files throughout the day. You have the option to receive between one and five files at various times. The benefit is having the ability to receive files intra-day in order to update your customer accounts/records in the earliest possible timescales. Please refer to the Faster Payments file times on page 6. New Faster Payments return reason codes Where a Faster Payment cannot be applied to the beneficiary s account, you may receive a Faster Payment Return Credit payment. One of the following return reason codes will be provided in the payment return code (field 126 in the ISO8583 format): 0001 Beneficiary sort code/account unknown 0002 Beneficiary account closed 0003 Beneficiary account stopped 0004 Beneficiary deceased 0005 Account not identified without data in reference field 0006 Beneficiary account name and number do not match 0007 Return requested by sender of original payment 0008 Account is not in currency quoted 0009 Beneficiary not expecting funds/instructed return 0010 Terms and conditions of account do not allow receipt 0011 Fraudulent payment suspected 0012 Account transferred 0013 Reason not specified because of sensitivities 0014 Other 4
File Frequency As Faster Payments may be received at anytime during the day, you will be required as a minimum, to take a daily data file. If you currently take your file less frequently than once a day, you can continue to do so for Bacs and Credit Clearing. Although we will generate a Faster Payments file every day, you will still have the option of collecting several files at once at your regular scheduled frequency instead of picking them up each day. You should bear in mind your customer proposition once real-time fund transfers are established. File names Each file will have a new name to differentiate if from your existing data file/s. Your internal systems will need to be updated to recognise this new name. File availability time If you currently download your existing data file before 19:30, you will need to change your scheduling to retrieve the file after 19:30. If you process files on an overnight batch basis, you should check the timing of this process. 5
Faster Payments files File collection: Daily Reports As the bulk credit cut off time will be 18.30 daily, to assist your reconciliation, you will be required to take as a minimum a mandatory file after 18.30 each day. You will have the option of selecting up to five files per day at the following times: File cut off time Latest time file available Optional or Mandatory file Types of payments received 07.00 08.00 Optional Standing Orders (>90% of total Forward Dated payments and SIPs) 12.00 13.00 Optional Standing Orders, Forward Dated payments and SIPs 15.30 16.30 Optional Standing Orders, Forward Dated payments and SIPs 18.30 19.30 Mandatory All Faster Payments received intra day or the balance if taking other files throughout the day 22.00 23.00 Optional SIPs received since 18.30 Impact Additional files will allow you to update your customer accounts/records during the day on which they are received. File collection time Files can be collected as shown one hour after they are cut off in our systems. During this time we will also match off any Faster Payment Reversal Debits against your Faster Payments Credits to minimise (and we expect in most instances to eliminate) the number of Reversal Debits you may receive. 6
Datalink Charges Datalink/ISO8583 file charges As you are required to take separate Faster Payments files (between one and five per day) then there will be an additional monthly fee for the Faster Payments file(s). This charge will be based on the number of files per day, plus a per item tariff. Charges are as follows: One file per day: 200 per month Additional daily files: 100 per month Maximum fee element: 500 per month Agency Clearing charges There will be no change to how we charge you for Faster Payments transactions into your Agency Clearing sort code. Transaction volumes will be captured in the same way as Bacs receipts and charged in line with agreed existing arrangements. 7
Appendix A: Faster Payment Reversals Payment Reversals These transactions will only happen when there is a delay in the processing links between the receiving bank and the central infrastructure. If a receiving bank has not responded to the incoming payment within the agreed service level agreement, the central infrastructure will reverse the payment. Please see the diagram below for more information. To help you identify and reconcile these new types of transactions, we will provide these transactions to you with a new transaction code. Reversal transactions will be debits to your Agency Clearing sort code. When you are enabled to receive Faster Payments, you will also need to change your procedures to handle the new debit transactions in your Datalink file. The incidence of reversals should be very rare, and to reduce them further, NatWest will match reversal debits against the corresponding credit wherever possible without delaying your Datalink file. You should, however, make allowance for the possibility of reversal debits being reported in your file. Sending Bank 1. Payment out 2. Payment in Receiving Bank Central Infrastructure 3. Timeout no response 5. Rejection 4. Payment reversal 8
Appendix B: Faster Payments ISO8583 Format ISO8583 You are required to receive a separate Faster Payments file in ISO8583 format. This is the industry format used by the member banks to pass payment data to and from the Central Infrastructure. It provides a greater level of detail than any other file format. The list below is a sample of some of the additional information available in the ISO8583 format compared to CAS. A full file specification document is included in this pack. Additional Information provided in ISO8583 (field length) Transaction Reference (18) Beneficiary Customer Account (34) Originating Credit Institution (11) Originating Customer Account (34) Charging Information (204) E2E Ref (31) File I.D. (32) Beneficiary Credit Institution (11) Originating Customer Account Name (40) Originating Customer Account Address (140) Beneficiary Customer Account Name (40) Beneficiary Customer Account Address (140) Remittance Information (140) Payment Return Code (8) Returned Payment Faster Payments I.D. (42) National Westminster Bank Plc. Registered in England No 929027. Registered Office: 135 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3UR. 90079503