SSA - POMS: GN 02402.396 - Coding Montenegro Bank Data on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)

A. Background for coding Montenegro 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 Montenegro.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) stores IDD bank data on the MBR in the same fields used for United States (U.S.) direct deposit.

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

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

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 formats:

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Blank check;
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SSA-1199-OP100 Direct Deposit Sign-Up Form for Montenegro; or
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Any document containing required banking information.

If upon receipt of the information, there are any discrepancies, follow 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 beneficiary must provide complete information to DIO or the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) for input. DIO will fax incomplete forms to the FBU that serves Montenegro. The FBU contacts the beneficiary or FI for additional information.

D. Overview of IDD for Montenegro

IDD payments sent to Montenegro must be in Euro accounts at local FIs.

The beneficiary must provide complete information to the Embassy, Consulate, or DIO for input.

DIO faxes incomplete forms to the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate that serves that territory.

The FBU will contact the beneficiary or FI for the additional information.

E. Description of Montenegro IDD bank data

The data for coding IDD for Montenegro comes from the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) provided to the beneficiary by his or her FI.

The full length of the IBAN for Montenegro consists of 22 characters.

The bank data on the MBR consists of 24 characters including the country code of W.

F. Procedure for coding Montenegro bank data

The FRBKC relies on SSA to provide the complete bank data to ensure correct posting of payments to a customer’s account.

If the information is incomplete, the FRBKC rejects the payment and returns the funds to SSA.

When establishing or changing IDD bank data for Montenegro, you can use an SSA system (i.e., Modernized Claims System (MCS), Manual Adjustment Credit and Award Data Entry (MACADE)).

However, you must go to ITS.gov to enter the following:

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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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IBAN
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payee indicator; and
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Society for Worldwide Internet Financial Telecommunication-Business Identifier Code (SWIFT-BIC)

1. SWIFT-BIC code obtained 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 letters);
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Next two characters - ISO 3166-1 alpha-two country code (only letters);
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Next two characters - location code (letters and digits) (passive participant have "1" in the second character); and
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Last three characters - branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office) (letters and digits).

2. Process initial award

If you are working on an initial award, you must update ITS.gov using the bank account information prior to processing the award to ensure that the beneficiary receives his or her payment.

If the complete bank account information is not in ITS.gov when the payment processes, the payment rejects and returns to SSA.

3. Add or update bank data using SSA systems

When you add or update IDD bank data using an SSA system (e.g. Post Entitlement Online System (POS), MACADE), you must:

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

Use procedures outlined in the following chart when processing 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 no, STOP. REASON: The MBR does not accept the IDD information unless the address is in a foreign country. If yes, go to step 3.
3	Is the beneficiary's account a Euro account in Montenegro? If no, STOP. REASON: Beneficiaries in Montenegro can only receive IDD payments in Euro accounts.
4	The RTN is 700000054 for all IDD to Montenegro. It contains the: • multi-country prefix of “70” for Montenegro IDD; • U.S. check digit code of “4” at the end of the RTN for all IDD accounts in Montenegro. No need to obtain the check digit code from Title II Interactive Comps.
5	Code the Type of Account as follows: • “S” for savings, or • “C” for checking. If no indicated account type, use a “C” for checking account.
6	To code the Depositor Account Number (DAN) for Montenegro, code as follows: • “W” designated for Montenegro • 13-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 F 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 for coding Montenegro direct deposit

The customer provides us with a signup form for Montenegro containing the information IBAN ME25 5050 0001 2345 6789 51.

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The first two characters of a Montenegro IBAN are “ME,” which represents the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) country code.
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The third and fourth characters of the IBAN are the IBAN check digits.
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The fifth through seventh characters of the IBAN are the Bank Identifier.
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The eight through twentieth characters represent the thirteen-digit account number.
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The last two digits of the IBAN represent the check digit for the account number.

The technicians should never code the IBAN ISO country code, the Bank Identifier, or the check digits to the MBR for Montenegro.

1. Derive the RTN

The technician must code the RTN as follows:

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Code an RTN of 700000054
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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

To derive the DAN, code as follows:

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Start with a country code of W designated for Montenegro; and
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Code digits of the Customer Account Number “0000123456789”

3. The technician must obtain the following

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RTN of 700000054
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Checking C
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Account Number: W0000123456789

a. The coding in an SSA system reflects

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DIRECT DEPOSIT ROUTING TRANSIT NUMBER: 700000054
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ACCOUNT TYPE (C/S): C
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DEPOSITOR ACCOUNT NUMBER: W0000123456789
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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-700000054
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DAN-CW0000123456789

Social Security

Program Operations Manual System (POMS)

GN 02402.396 Coding Montenegro Bank Data on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)