SSA - POMS: GN 02402.404 - Coding Ecuador Bank Data on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)

A. Background for coding Ecuador bank data

This section describes how to code bank data for international direct deposit (IDD) of Title II benefits to a financial institution (FI) in Ecuador. We store IDD bank data on the MBR in the same fields used for U.S. direct deposit.

Special coding identifies the data as an Ecuador direct deposit and allows us to route benefit payments through the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (FRBKC) and the processor bank in Ecuador to the beneficiary's local FI.

If you receive an IDD request in a U.S. domestic (non-border) field office (FO), forward all appropriate information to the Office of Earnings and International Operations (OEIO), Division of International Operations (DIO) to process.

For more detail on IDD requests and forwarding information, see:

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GN 02402.201 Background and Policy for Direct Deposit Outside the U.S.
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GN 02402.205 Direct Deposit Enrollment Outside the U.S.
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GN 01010.255 Adjudication of Foreign Claims
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GN 01702.310C Routing of Claims for U.S. Benefits Involving Totalization

B. How we receive IDD bank data

We receive requests to input bank data by mail, phone, or fax in the form of:

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Blank check;
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SSA-1199-OP75 International Direct Deposit Signup Form for Ecuador; or
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Any document that contains required banking information.

If you receive information with discrepancies, see the following instructions:

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GN 00203.020 Identity of Claimants
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GN 02402.025 Direct Deposit Post Entitlement Interview

C. Multi-country contract

The processing FI for Ecuador has a “70” at the beginning of the Routing Transit Number (RTN).

D. Overview of IDD for Ecuador

IDD payments sent to Ecuador must be in U.S. dollar (USD) accounts at local FIs. The beneficiary must provide complete information to DIO or the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) for input. DIO faxes incomplete forms to the FBU that serves Ecuador. The FBU contacts the beneficiary or FI for the additional information.

E. Description of Ecuador IDD bank data

The data to code IDD for Ecuador comes from banks determined by the FRBKC. The bank data on the MBR reflects up to 27 characters including the country code of “V” for Ecuador.

IMPORTANT: Because the DAN field can only hold up to 16 digits, complete bank information must be coded in ITS.gov for each beneficiary. Additional characters may be required for the IDD payment to process. Therefore, technicians must follow a two-step process to avoid payment rejection:

1.

Input all IDD bank data in ITS.gov, as outlined in Section F; and
2.

Input the allowable number of characters via SSA systems to update the MBR.

F. Procedure for coding Ecuador bank data

The FRBKC relies on us to provide the complete bank data to post payments correctly to a customer’s account. If the information is incomplete, the FRBKC rejects the payment and returns the funds to us.

When you establish or change IDD bank data for Ecuador through one of our systems (Modernized Claims System (MCS), Manual Adjustment Credit and Award Data Entry (MACADE), etc.), you must go to ITS.gov to enter the:

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account number;
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account ownership;
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account type;
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beneficiary address;
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country;
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enrollment status;
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first and last name of the beneficiary;
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payee indicator; and
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Society for Worldwide Internet Financial Telecommunication-Business Identifier Code (SWIFT-BIC).

1. Obtain Swift-BIC code from the FI

The SWIFT code contains a minimum of 8 characters, and a maximum of 11 characters:

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first four characters - bank code (only alpha);
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next two characters - ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 country code (only alpha);
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next two characters - location code (alpha and numeric) (passive participants have a "1" in the second character); and
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last three characters - branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office) (alpha and numeric).

2. Process initial award

Before you process the initial award, you must update ITS.gov with the bank account information to ensure the beneficiary receives payment. If the complete bank account information is not in ITS.gov when the payment processes, the payment rejects and returns to us.

3. Add or update bank data using SSA systems

When you add or update IDD bank data using one of our systems (e.g. Post Entitlement Online System (POS) or MACADE), you must:

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update ITS.gov on the same day;
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enter all POS direct deposit changes according to normal procedures;

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use procedures outlined in the chart in this section when you process the bank data within four business days of the current operational month (COM) cutoff date.

Step	Action
1	Are you coding an initial claim? If yes, go to step 3. If no, go to step 2.
2	Is the beneficiary's address on the MBR in a foreign country (PCOC = 8)? If yes, go to step 3. If no, STOP. REASON: The MBR will not accept the IDD information.
3	Is the beneficiary's account a U.S. dollar (USD) account in Ecuador? If no, STOP. REASON: Beneficiaries in Ecuador can only receive IDD payments in USD accounts. If yes, go to step 4
4	Use RTN 700000041 for all IDD to Ecuador. It contains the: • Multi-country prefix for Ecuador “70.” • U.S. check digit code of “1” at the end of the RTN for all IDD accounts in Ecuador. • No need to obtain the check digit code from Title II Interactive Comps.
5	Code the account type: • “S” for savings, or • “C” for checking. If no account type is indicated, use a “C” for checking account.
6	To code the Depositor Account Number (DAN) for Ecuador, code: • “V” for Ecuador • 16 digits of the 29-digit Account Number
7	You must take action on the same business day to enter all the information into ITS.gov listed in the introduction of GN 02402.404F in this section. You must access ITS.gov, or ask a co-worker to update the required information into ITS.gov. REMINDER: When information is not available, FRBKC rejects the payment and returns it to our agency.

G. Example of coding Ecuador direct deposit

The customer provides us with a signup form for Ecuador with the account number: "12345678901122334455667788990"

1. Derive the RTN

The technician enters the information for the RTN.

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Code RTN of 700000041
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Code the type of account as a “C” for checking or an “S” for savings. If no account type indicated, use a “C” for checking.

2. Derive the DAN

The technician codes the DAN.

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Start with country code “V” designated for Ecuador; and
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Code16 digits of the 20-digit account number: “1234567890112233”

3. Obtain the following information

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RTN: 700000041
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Checking
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DAN: V1234567890112233

a. POS reflects the direct deposit information

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DIRECT DEPOSIT ROUTING TRANSIT NUMBER: 700000041
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ACCOUNT TYPE (C/S): C
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DEPOSITOR ACCOUNT NUMBER: V1234567890112233
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CANCEL DIRECT DEPOSIT (Y):
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DIRECT EXPRESS (Y):

b. The MBR reflects the following information

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RTN- 700000041
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DAN- CV1234567890112233

H. References

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GN 00203.020 Identity of Claimants
•

GN 01010.255 Adjudication of Foreign Claims
•

GN 01702.310C Routing of Claims for U.S. Benefits Involving Totalization
•

GN 02402.025 Direct Deposit Post Entitlement Interview
•

GN 02402.201 Background and Policy for Direct Deposit Outside the U.S.
•

GN 02402.205 Direct Deposit Enrollment Outside the U.S.
•

ITS.gov International Treasury Services (U.S. Treasury system)

Social Security

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)

GN 02402.404 Coding Ecuador Bank Data on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)