Fedwire^® Services

Extended remittance information now available via the Fedwire^® Funds Service

April 15, 2012

In November 2011, the Federal Reserve Banks implemented a new message, the Customer Transfer Plus (CTP) message, for the Fedwire Funds Service. The CTP message allows corporate originators of wire transfer payments to include up to 9,000 characters of extended remittance information within a wire transfer payment order, which can help facilitate end-to-end processing.

With the CTP message, extended remittance information can be sent in three different ways. A simplified table (PDF) is available to help you determine the method that best fits your customers’ needs and your operation.

• Unstructured - Allows originators to send beneficiaries a block of about 9,000 characters of remittance data in a specified format supplied by the originator.
• Related - Allows originators to include information in the CTP message (e.g., URL address and reference number) to inform beneficiaries where they can obtain the remittance information when it does not travel with the payment.
• Structured - Allows originators to include about 9,000 characters of remittance data in pre-defined fields within the CTP message; compatible with the ISO 20022 and STP 820 formats.

To date, some institutions are using the unstructured remittance option to include invoice information in the CTP message in the Unstructured Addenda Information tag {8200}. Because the invoice information is not formatted according to a specific industry standard explicitly supported by one of the local instrument codes available for tag {8200}, the NARR local instrument code is used to indicate that the data is in free text. However, any originator/beneficiary pair could agree to use this space to carry their own method for including the invoice information in tag {8200}. You can work with your customers to determine which remittance option could improve their wire processing flows. The option can differ from customer to customer and change with each funds message depending on your customer’s needs.

Fedwire participants that have not already done so will need to make changes to their wire origination and delivery platforms before they can leverage the benefits of extended remittance information for their customers. 

• High-Volume Fedwire participants: If you have high wire transfer volumes and complex technology infrastructures, you may need to determine which internal systems, access channels and customer market segments to tackle first. You also may want to talk with your corporate customers to raise awareness and promote the benefits of wire payments with extended remittance information.
• Lower-Volume Fedwire participants: Institutions with relatively low wire transfer volumes, and perhaps less automation, are often very nimble. You may be able to make simple changes to manual processes to begin offering your customers wire payments with extended remittance information.

Consider how your institution can use the new CTP message to provide value-added services to your corporate customers, which could help to increase or preserve your wire volume. Invoice and other business remittance information can flow along with wire transfer payments, giving your corporate customers the ability to reconcile their payments more efficiently, which could reduce your incoming customer inquiries related to unapplied funds transfers. Convert your corporate customers’ time and cost savings into additional revenue and customer satisfaction. Initiate a conversation with your customers on their pain points and how your institution can help introduce process efficiencies with extended remittance information options.

The Federal Reserve Banks are available to help your institution prepare for those customer conversations. We can either meet with you and your customers, or provide information to help facilitate your customer meetings. For more information, contact your account executive and visit the online resource center for access to extended remittance information articles, best practices, guidelines and more.

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