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Fedwire Funds Format Changes for Remittance Information and Other Changes

The Federal Reserve Banks will be implementing a new message format to support extended-character business remittance information, an improved cover payments solution, a new field to support payment notification and better alignment with the SWIFT message formats. Several additional minor changes will also be implemented. The Federal Reserve Banks will be implementing software changes on November 19, 2011, so that the new message format will be ready to use at the opening of the funds transfer business day for November 21, 2011.

To help customers prepare for the upcoming changes, the Federal Reserve Banks will provide ongoing updates and information.

Background Information

  1. Read the 2006 research study on Business to Business Wire Payments (PDF)
  2. Review the 2008 Fedwire Message Format Survey Results
  3. Read the May 13, 2008, Announcement on Support for New Formats (PDF)
  4. Read “Moving Forward with B2B Wire Transfers: How Banks Can Create Value for their Corporate Clients” (PDF) (c) Henry Stewart Publications, first published in Journal of Payments Strategy & Systems
  5. Read the announcement on the revised implementation date (PDF) for the new message format

Format Specifications and Implementation Guidance

  1. Review a list of Frequently Asked Questions and General Information (Updated 10/04/11) (PDF)
  2. Review the Mapping Table – Fedwire Business Remittance Information Mapped to ISO20022 and STP 820 (Updated 01/26/12) (xls)
  3. Fedwire Funds Format Reference Guide (Updated 1/19/11) (PDF), Effective November 19, 2011
  4. Review the recommended best practices (PDF) for implementing and using the extended-character business remittance information in wire transfers
  5. Read the Payment Notification Guidelines (Updated 10/19/11) (PDF) approved by the Federal Reserve Banks' Wholesale Customer Advisory Group and read about the Payment Notification User Group.
  6. If your institution needs to map STP 820-formatted remittance information to the Fedwire Funds Service Customer Transfer Plus (CTP) message, you may wish to consider purchasing the Implementation Guide (820) STP 820 for CHIPS and Fedwire (Off-site) from the Accredited Standards Committee X12 (ASC X12). 1
  7. Read the new Balance and Transaction Reporting Specifications (formerly published as BAI2) Edition 1: BTRS for information on how to map Fedwire Funds Service messages with extended remittance information to the BTRS 88 record. 2

Testing and Certification

The format changes are available in the Depository Institution Testing (DIT) environment.

1. Review a list of Frequently Asked Questions about Testing & Certification Requirements (Updated 7/2/11)(PDF)

Information Sessions

The Federal Reserve Banks hosted and recorded online information sessions in March and April to help you prepare for the technical aspects of the November 2011 Fedwire message format changes. Information about how to obtain the recording of a session was emailed to Fedwire Funds Service EUACs and Subscribers. Contact the Wholesale Operations Site if you have any questions.

Additional Information

  • For a list of contacts for your institution, visit Contact Us
  • To stay informed about upcoming developments from the Federal Reserve Banks related to the new business remittance information message format, please submit your information here.

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1 The Federal Reserve Banks do not sponsor, endorse, or recommend any third party or third-party products referenced on this website.

2 The Federal Reserve Banks have reproduced this document with the written permission of Accredited Standards Committee X9, Inc. ("ASC X9") from ASC X9's draft "Balance and Transaction Reporting Specifications (formerly published as BAI2) Edition 1: BTRS," which is intended to become an American National Standard. No other party may copy any part of this material or reproduce it in any form, including on electronic retrieval systems, the Internet, public networks, or otherwise, without the written permission of ASC X9. Copies of all ANSI X9 standards and technical reports can be purchased from ASC X9's eStandards Store. Go to www.x9.org click on the Standards tab, and then select "Purchase X9 Standards. The Federal Reserve Banks do not sponsor, endorse, or recommend any third party or third-party products referenced on this website.