Effective Dates: 04/04/2024 - Present Previous | Next

TN 265 (04-24)

GN 02402.304 Coding Italian Bank Data for the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR)

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

Special coding identifies the bank data as an Italian direct deposit. This allows us to route benefit payments through the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (FRBKC) and the processor bank in Italy 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 detailed instructions 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-IT International Direct Deposit Signup Form for Italy; or

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    Any document that contains the required banking information.

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

  • •

    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 in Italy will have a prefix of "55" at the beginning of the Routing Transit Number (RTN).

D. Overview of IDD for Italy

IDD payments sent to Italy must be in Euro (EUR) accounts at local FIs. The beneficiary must provide complete information to the DIO or the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) for input. DIO will fax incomplete forms to the FBU that serves Italy. The FBU contacts the beneficiary or FI for additional information.

E. Description of Italy IDD bank data

The data for coding IDD for Italy will come from the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) provided to the beneficiary from his or her FI. The IBAN will be 27 characters. However, the bank data reflected on the MBR will be 25 characters. Technicians will use the IBAN to derive the RTN and DAN when processing an IDD request.

The Customer Account Number may contain numbers, letters, hyphens, slashes, or periods, and it may contain spaces between characters. SSA's system accepts only numbers, letters, and hyphens. If a slash, period, or space is shown, a hyphen must be used instead.

EXAMPLE 1: The account number is 2456/26. The input should be 2456-26.

· If the Bank Code Number or Branch Code contains a period followed by 1 or more digits, you must ignore the period and any digits following it.

EXAMPLE 2: The Branch Code is displayed as 92046.3.The correct Branch Code to use is 92046.

If the Bank Code Number or Branch Code is displayed as four digits followed by a period and 1 or more digits, you must add a zero in front and drop the period and any additional digits.

EXAMPLE 3: The Branch Code is shown as 1234.5. You would use 01234.

· If the Bank Code is displayed as five-digits with no period but the first digit is not a 0 or 1, you must add a zero in front and drop the final digit.

REASON: Sometimes an FI will code five-digits without putting in the period. However, all Italy Bank Codes begin with 0 or 1.

EXAMPLE 4: The Bank Code is displayed as 20021. You need to code 02002.

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. 1. 

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

  2. 2. 

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

F. Procedure for coding Italian bank data

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

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

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    first and last name of the beneficiary

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    payee indicator

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    enrollment status

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    country

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    account type

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    account ownership

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    International Bank Account Number (IBAN)

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    Society for Worldwide Internet Financial Telecommunication-Business Identifier Code (SWIFT-BIC)

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    beneficiary address

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    reclamation country

1. Obtain SWIFT-BIC code from the FI

The SWIFT code consists of 8 to 11 alphanumeric characters. When an 8-digit code is given, it refers to the primary office:

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    First 4 characters - bank code (alpha only)

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    Next 2 characters - ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (alpha only)

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    Next 2 characters - location code (alpha and numeric) (passive participant will have "1" in the second character)

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    Last 3 characters - branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office) (alpha and numeric)

2. Process initial award

Secure IBAN and SWIFT-BIC coding from the beneficiary at the time of filing. The FBU inputs an initial IDD claim if the beneficiary elects the option of direct deposit. All initial IDD claims that an FBU takes for Italy require input into ITS.gov and an SSA system (i.e. MCS, MACADE, etc.) on the same day. You must complete all initial claims that the International Benefits Office (IBO) takes. You must input all initial claims involving Italy IDD into ITS.gov and an SSA system (i.e. MCS, MACADE, etc.) on the same day.

NOTE: If there is dire need or hardship involved, advise the beneficiary of the option of initiating payment via a paper check. Inform the beneficiary that the bank may charge for cashing the check. If the beneficiary chooses the option of paper check, the FBU documents and processes the initial claim.

3. Add or update bank data using SSA systems

When you add or update IDD bank data using 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 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 EUR account in Italy? If no, STOP.

REASON: Beneficiaries in Italy can only receive IDD payments in EUR accounts.

If yes, go to step 4.

4

Code the 9-digit RTN field (nine digits total) as follows:

  • •

    Start with "55", the prefix SSA has designated for Italy IDD.

  • •

    Code the 5-digit Bank Code Number. Follow GN 02402.304E if one of the following situations exists:

    • –

      Only four digits of the Bank Code Number are shown,

    • –

      The Bank Code Number contains a period followed by 1 or more digits, or

    • –

      The Bank Code is displayed as five digits with no period but the Bank Code begins with other than 0 or 1.

  • •

    Code the first digit of the 5-digit Branch Code.

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    Code the U.S. check digit. Obtain the check digit by using the Check Digit Code program on Title II/Interactive Comps.

NOTE: The final digit is the U.S. check digit Code and is subject to change. Obtain check digit code through the Title II Interactive Comps from the Main Menus 07/Sub Menu 16.

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

Code the DAN field as follows:

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    The last 4 digits of the Branch Code (C.A.B.). If only four digits of the Branch Code are displayed, or if the Branch Code contains a period followed by 1 or more digits, follow GN 02402.304E

  • •

    Then code 12-character account number.

7

You must take action on the same business day to enter into ITS.gov all the information listed in GN 02402.304F.

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 Italian direct deposit

The customer provides us with a signup form for Italy containing the following information: "IT60X0542811101000000123456."

  • •

    The first 2 characters of the Italy IBAN are “IT”, which represents the International Organizational for Standardization (ISO) country code.

  • •

    The third and fourth characters of the IBAN are the IBAN check digits.

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    The next digit is the Control Internal Number (C.I.N.).

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    The technician should never code the IBAN ISO country code, check digit, or C.I.N onto the MBR.

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    The next five characters of the IBAN represent the bank code.

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    The next five digits represent the branch code.

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    The last 12 characters represent the customer account number.

1. Derive the RTN

The technician enters the information for the RTN.

  • •

    Code the prefix of “55” (SSA designated prefix for IDD)

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    Code the five-digit Bank Code Number “05428”

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    Code the first digit of the five-digit Branch Code “1”

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    Code the one-digit check code (i.e., 8) (obtained from the Title II interactive Comps from the Main Menus 07/Sub Menu 16);

  • •

    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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    Code the last four digits of the branch code “1101”

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    Code the first 12-digit account number “000000123456”

3. Obtain the following information

In ITS.gov: IBAN: IT60X0542811101000000123456 SWIFT: Full code (example: BEPOIT21020)

  • •

    RTN: 550542818

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    Checking

  • •

    DAN: 1101-000000123456

a. POS reflects the direct deposit information

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    DIRECT DEPOSIT ROUTING TRANSIT NUMBER: 550542818 ACCOUNT TYPE (C/S): C

  • •

    DEPOSITOR ACCOUNT NUMBER: 1101-000000123456

  • •

    CANCEL DIRECT DEPOSIT (Y):

  • •

    DIRECT EXPRESS (Y):

b. The MBR reflects the following information

  • •

    RTN- 550542818

  • •

    DAN- C1101000000123456

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/0202402304
GN 02402.304 - Coding Italian Bank Data for the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) - 04/04/2024
Batch run: 12/06/2024
Rev:04/04/2024