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FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
OF NEW YORK

[

Circular No. 9368 1
September 30, 1982 I

New Format for FEDWIRE Third Party Funds Transfer Messages
T o A ll D e p o s ito r y In stitu tio n s, a n d O th e r s C o n c e rn e d ,
in th e S e c o n d F e d e r a l R e s e r v e D is tr ic t:

The Federal Reserve has adopted the American Bankers Association’s new format standards for use
in FEDWIRE third party funds transfers. The formats are included in the ABA’s publication, Developing
A More Efficient Funds Transfer Service, Phase //.
The format standards will enhance the FEDWIRE Funds Transfer Service by supporting automated
processing of third party transfers by receiving institutions. In addition to reducing manual handling
significantly, the use of these standards will aid non-automated institutions in interpreting third party
information, improve investigation procedures, and speed delivery to the beneficiary.
The ABA standards do not change formats for messages currently in use but will provide a structure
for any machine-readable third party beneficiary data contained in type code 10, 12, 15, and 16 funds
transfer messages.
To expedite the processing of standard third party transfers, a new subtype code (40) has been
established effective December 1, 1982 to designate messages which have third party data structured as
provided in the standards. All service and other messages (subtypes 01, 02, 07, 08, and 90) will continue
to use current subtype codes. All financial institutions with computer-to-computer links should be
prepared to accept subtype code 40 messages effective December 1, 1982.
The enclosed brochure contains the ABA’s definitions of product codes and alphabetic field tags to
be used in structuring third party transfers, together with an example of a FEDWIRE third party message
formatted in accordance with the standards. Only a small percentage of transfers will use all of the alpha
field tags. Only those fields tags applicable to a transfer of funds should be used when structuring a third
party message.
The adoption of these format standards will not immediately affect depository institutions that use
our funds transfer services in an off-line mode. However, off-line institutions should be aware that
beginning December 1,1982, some of their incoming transfers could contain third party information in the
new format. Also on a date to be announced later, this Bank will begin to prepare funds transfer requests
received from off-line institutions in the new format.
In requesting that the Federal Reserve adopt the new standards, the ABA has asked that we
encourage depository institutions to obtain a copy of the new publication from the ABA. Requests for
copies, and inquiries regarding the ABA publication can be addressed to the American Bankers Associa­
tion, Operations Group, 1120 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., 20036.
Any questions regarding the use of these format standards for FEDWIRE transfers of funds should be
referred to Henry F. Wiener, Assistant Vice President (Tel. No. 212-791-5079) or Robert W. Dabbs,
Manager, Funds Transfer Department (Tel. No. 212-791-5073) at the Head Office; or Robert J. McDon­
nell, Operations Officer (Tel. No. 716-849-5022) at the Buffalo Branch.




A

nthony

M .

So

lo m o n

,

President.

A GUIDE TO ABA THIRD PARTY FORMAT
STANDARDS

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK

September 1982

[Enc. Cir. No. 9368]




A GUIDE TO ABA THIRD PARTY FORMAT STANDARDS

Introduction
Establishing a standard for structuring third party data is
intended to reduce depository institution time and expense in the
processing of third party transfers. Providing customer informa­
tion in a standardized format in each message will permit the
receiving institution to automate the processing of funds transfers
and speed delivery to the beneficiary. Structuring information in
the message and the use of standardized abbreviations for com­
mon formatting should simplify message preparation, reduce
error rates, aid in interpretation of third party data, and improve
financial institutions' investigation procedures.
This guide was adapted from the American Bankers Associ­
ation publication entitled Developing A More Efficient Funds
Transfer Service, Phase II (September 1982).




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Wire Transfer of Funds — Product Codes
Product codes are used to indicate to a receiver the type of
business the message pertains to and are authorized for use in
further classifying wire transfer of funds messages sent over
FED WIRE. A product code will be used to distinguish third party
and bank-to-bank transfer messages.
Location
The product code is located on line five in the field following
the receiver bank’s abbreviated name and consists of three alpha­
betic characters.
Description
The product codes authorized for use with wire transfer of
funds messages sent over the Federal Reserve Communications
System are defined below:
Product Code
Definition of Product Code
B T R ................Bank Transfer, indicating the beneficiary is
a bank.
C T R .................Third Party Customer Transfer, indicating
the beneficiary is a nonbank. This indicates
third party data in the message is structured
according to the authorized standards to
support automated processing.
D E P ................Deposit, to Sender’s account.
D R W ..............Drawdown
F F R ................Fed Funds Returned
FFS .................Fed Funds Sold
L P T ................Loan Payment

2

•?

Wire Transfer of Funds — Alpha Field Tags
Alpha field tags are used to identify the third party data
elements inserted by the originator of funds transfer messages.
Location
The alpha field tags are inserted in the free form text follow­
ing both sender and receiver bank names within the funds transfer
messages. These alpha field tags consist of three alphabetic
characters followed by an equal (=) sign. The proper order of
placement in the message is the order listed below. The maximum
number of alpha field tags will probably be used in only a small
percentage of transfers. Only those field tags applicable to the
particular message should be used.
Description
The following alpha field tags are authorized for use with
wire transfer of funds messages sent over the Federal Reserve
Communications System:
Alpha Field Tag1
Definition of Alpha Field Tag
O R G = .............Originator, the initiator of the transfer instructions.
RFB= .............Reference for the Beneficiary, the reference which enables
the beneficiary to identify the transfer.
OGB = .............Originator’s Bank, identifies the bank acting for the
originator of the transfer.
INS = ...............Instructing Bank, the bank that instructs the sender to execute
the transaction.
IB K = ..............Intermediary Bank(s), the bank(s) between the receiving
bank and the beneficiary’s bank through which the transfer
must pass, if specified by the sending bank. In such cases,
this is the receiving bank’s credit party.
B B K = .............Beneficiary’s Bank, the bank that acts as the financial agent
for the beneficiary of the transfer.
BNF= ............Beneficiary,* the ultimate party to be credited or paid as a
2
result of a transfer.
O B I= ...............Originator to Beneficiary Information, information to be
conveyed from the originator to the beneficiary.
B B I= ..............Bank to Bank Information, miscellaneous information
pertaining to the transfer which may include information
specifying for which bank(s) the information is intended.
'Sender field tags (O R G = , RFB = , OGB = , and IN S = ) should be placed on line four following the sender bank’s abbreviated
name. H owever, when there is data for more than two o f these alpha field tags, the other tags should be placed at the end o f the
message.
2This field should include name and address/identifier/advice method/advice information.



3

Proper Use
The proper use of product codes and alpha field tags is the
responsibility of the financial institution originating the transac­
tion. At the present time, the Federal Reserve will not edit funds
transfers initiated by on-line financial institutions for compliance
with these standards.

EXAMPLE
FEDWIRE THIRD PARTY MESSAGE
USING ABA FORMAT STANDARDS
02
TO

121000358

TYPE

1 0 4 0.

FROM

021000089

REF

4 09 2

AMOUNT

$ 1 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 .0 0

^ ORDERING BANK AND RELATED DATA

CITIBANK NYC/OKG=J. COOMBS, LONDON RFB=INV 8123
BK AMER SF/CTR/IBK=B OF A LOS ANGELES BBK=BK OF SAN PEDRO, SAN PEDRO
CA. B N F = H .L .IN D U S T R IE S /D -12-34567/P H N /(4 15 ) 5 5 5 -2 0 9 9 OBI=EQUIP PURCH
BBI=NOTIFY TREASURER OGB=BANK OF THE NORTH, LONDON INS=CITIBANK LONDON

MESSAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT




4

Further Information
The following officers of the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York would be pleased to answer any questions you may have
regarding the use of these format standards:




Head Office
Henry F. Wiener, Assistant Vice President
(Tel. No. 212-791-5079)
Robert W. Dabbs, Manager, Funds Transfer
Department (Tel. No. 212-791-5073)
Buffalo Branch
Robert J. McDonnell, Operations Officer
(Tel. No. 716-849-5022)

5