Effective Dates: 01/16/2024 - Present Previous | Next

TN 252 (01-24)

GN 02402.399 Coding Eritrea Bank Data on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)

A. Background for coding Eritrea 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 Eritrea. We store IDD bank data on the MBR in the same fields used U.S. direct deposit.

Special coding identifies the bank data as an Eritrea direct deposit. This allows us to route benefit payments through the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (FRBKC) and the processor bank in Eritrea 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), Division of International Operations (DIO) to process.

For detail on IDD requests and forwarding information, see:

  • •

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

  • •

    GN 02402.205 Direct Deposit Enrollment Outside the U.S.

  • •

    GN 01010.255 Adjudication of Foreign Claims

  • •

    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 following formats:

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    Blank check;

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    SSA-1199-OP74International Direct Deposit Signup Form for Eritrea; or

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    Any document containing required banking information.

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

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    GN 00203.020 Identity of Claimants

  • •

    GN 02402.025 Direct Deposit Post Entitlement Interview

C. Multi-country contract

The processing FI in Eritrea will have a prefix of 71 at the beginning of the Routing Transit Number (RTN). The first letter of the Depositor Account Number (DAN) field has the letter “T” assigned for Eritrea.

D. Overview of IDD for Eritrea

IDD payments sent to Eritrea must be in Eritrean Nakfa (ERN) 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 Eritrea. The FBU contacts the beneficiary or FI for the additional information.

IMPORTANT: A $25.00 minimum banking regulation is imposed for IDD payments sent to Eritrea.

E. Description to code bank data for Eritrea

The data to code IDD for Eritrea comes from banks determined by the FRBKC. The bank data reflected on the MBR consists of 27 characters including Eritrea’s country code of T.

F. Procedure for coding bank data for Eritrea

The FRBKC relies on us 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 our agency.

You might establish or change IDD bank data for Eritrea using an SSA system (e.g. Modernized Claims System (MCS), Manual Adjustment Credit and Award Data Entry (MACADE)).

You must go to ITS.gov to enter the following data:

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    account ownership;

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    account number:

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    account type;

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    bank name;

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    bank address;

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    beneficiary address; (no P.O. Box address allowed)

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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;

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    bank branch name and full address under bank contact information;

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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 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 participants 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

You must update ITS.gov with the bank account information prior to processing an initial 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 our agency.

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 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 the chart in this section when you process 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 an ERN account in Eritrea? If no, STOP.

REASON: Beneficiaries in Eritrea can only receive IDD payments in ERN accounts.

If yes, go to step 4.

4

The RTN is 710000057 for all IDD to Eritrea.

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    Multi-country prefix for Eritrea IDD is “71”

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    U.S. check digit code for all IDD accounts in Eritrea is “7” at the end of the RTN.

No need to obtain the check digit code from Title II Interactive Comps.

5

Code the account type:

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    “S” for savings, or

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    “C” for checking.

If the beneficiary does not indicate an account type, use a “C” for checking account.

6

To code the Depositor Account Number (DAN) for Eritrea , code as follows:

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    “T” is designated for Eritrea

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    16 digits of the 29 digit Customer Account Number

7

You must take action on the same business day to enter into ITS.gov all the information ITS.gov listed in GN 02402.399F .

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 Eritrea direct deposit

The customer provides us with a signup form for Eritrea containing the account number: "12345678901234567890123456789".

1. Derive the RTN

The technician enters the information for the RTN.

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    Code the RTN of 710000057

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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 a country code of T designated for Eritrea; and

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    Code 16 digits of 29-digit Customer Account Number “1234567890123456”

3. Obtain the following information:

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    RTN: 710000057

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    Checking

  • •

    DAN: 123456789012345

a. POS reflects the direct deposit information:

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    DIRECT DEPOSIT ROUTING TRANSIT NUMBER: 710000057

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    ACCOUNT TYPE (C/S): C

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    DEPOSITOR ACCOUNT NUMBER: T1234567890123456

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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- 710000057

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    DAN- CT123456789012345

H. References

  • •

    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)

To Link to this section - Use this URL:
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0202402399
GN 02402.399 - Coding Eritrea Bank Data on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) - 01/16/2024
Batch run: 01/29/2024
Rev:01/16/2024