MESSAGE: pacs.008 FI to FI Customer Credit Transfer

The ISO 20022 pacs.008 message is used in Nexus as the payment instruction.

For further detail on each element in the pacs.008, please refer to the Message Guidelines (Excel).

Intermediary Agents

The Intermediary Agent elements of the pacs.008 are used define the Settlement Account Providers (SAPs) at which an FX Provider holds their funds. Payments flow from the Source PSP to the Source SAP, and then from the Destination SAP to the Destination PSP.

Source PSPs use the API operation GET /quotes/{quoteId}/intermediary-agents to retrieve details of the intermediary agents, and then copy this information into the pacs.008a as required by the message specifications. (The information may alternatively be retrieved from the response to the original GET /quotes request.)

Agreed Rate

The exchange rate is recorded in the element:

… > Credit Transfer Transaction Information > Agreed Rate

This is the exchange rate that the FXP charges to the Source PSP. It is applied to Interbank Settlement Amount in the Source Currency, to determine what should be debited from the Destination SAP and transferred to the Destination PSP in the destination currency.

Note that this exchange rate is not the same as the effective exchange rate that is shown to the Sender, which is calculated by dividing the amount credited to the Recipient by the amount debited from the Sender.

Amounts

• The information about amounts included in the Nexus payment elements (in bold) as follows:

  • Instructed Amount = the amount instructed by the Sender in either Source Currency (amount debited from the Sender) or Destination currency (amount to be credited to Recipient). When the amount is specified in the Source Currency, the amount includes all fees (i.e. is the actual amount debited from the Debtor account, incl. the S-PSP fee). When the amount is specified in the Destination Currency, this exludes the fees (i.e. the amount is the amount credited onto the Creditor account and thus excludes the D-PSP fee).

  • Interbank Settlement Amount (in Source Currency) = the amount transferred from the Source PSP to the Source SAP. If the instructed amount is denominated in the Source Currency, the interbank settlement amount is equal to the instructed amount minus the Source PSP fee. If the instructed amount is denominated in the Destination Currency, the interbank settlement amount (in Source Currency) is equal to the instructed amount plus the D-PSP fee converted to Source Currency using the exchange rate.

  • Interbank Settlement Amount (in Destination Currency) = the amount transferred from the Destination SAP to the Destination PSP. This is calculated by Nexus before the payment is sent to the Destination IPS. This is the Interbank Settlement Amount in the Source Currency multiplied by the Exchange Rate applicable to the transaction (based on the quote received from the FX Provider)

  • The amount credited to the Recipient is calculated by taking the Interbank Settlement Amount (in Destination Currency) and deducting the Destination PSP Deducted Fee, which is recorded in ChargesInformation/Amount (see below). Nexus calculates and provides the applicable Destination PSP fee in the response to the GET /quotes/ API (or the GET /creditor-agent-fee API - see Fees for further information.

Charges Information

Fees deducted by the Source PSP and Destination PSP must be recorded in the Charges section of the pacs.008 payment instruction; see Fees for further details. (The complete fee model and the requirements are detailed in the Nexus Scheme Rulebook.)

• The Source PSP may charge a Deducted Fee by making a deduction from the amount debited from the Sender.

  • The Source PSP Deducted Fee is by definition the difference between Instructed Amount and Interbank Settlement Amount.

• The Destination PSP must charge a Deducted Fee before crediting the Recipient.

  • The Destination PSP is determined according to a formula set by the Nexus Scheme, and is calculated by Nexus and shared with the Source PSP when they call the GET /quotes API operation (or a separate GET /creditor-agent-fee in the case that the Source PSP is also the FX Provider.

Both of these fees must be recorded (by the Source PSP) in the pacs.008 payment instruction as follows:

• FI To FI Customer Credit Transfer > Credit Transfer Transaction Information >

  • Charge Bearer = SHAR

  • Charges Information [1]

    • Agent = Source PSP

    • Amount = Source PSP Deducted Fee

      • (Ccy = Source Currency)

  • Charges Information [2]

    • Agent = Destination PSP

    • Agent = Destination PSP Deducted Fee

      • (Ccy = Destination Currency)

If the Source PSP chooses not to charge the Source PSP Deducted Fee, it should still include the Charges Amount information with the amount set to zero.

Remittance Information

Nexus message guidelines permit the use of both the structured and unstructured remittance elements. The remittance elements cater for 140 characters of unstructured data, or structured remittance data. Nexus forwards the remittance elements unaltered.

The Structured Remittance element enables automated reconciliation by the Recipient between receivables and payments. It is recommended that the Recipient adopts the ISO 11649 Standard for a ‘structured creditor reference to the remittance information’ as the preferred remittance data convention for identifying payment referring to a single invoice.

The remittance data supplied by the Sender in the Nexus transaction must be forwarded in full and without alteration by the Source PSP, the SAPs involved and the IPSOs, to the Destination PSP.

When the Sender provides a Structured Creditor Reference, it is recommended that the Source PSP checks the correctness of the Structured Creditor Reference at the point of capture by the Sender.

The Destination PSP must also deliver received remittance data in full and without alteration to the Creditor.

FX Quote ID

The Quote Id is provided by the response to the GET /quotes API operation. The quote ID is a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID). The Quote ID is to be supplied in the Agreed Rate section of the pacs.008 message.

<AgrdRate>
    <QtId>
    </QtId>
</AgrdRate>

The presence of the Quote ID is validated by Nexus and is used by Nexus to validate the exchange rate applied to the payment and enrich the message with the intermediary agents as required.

If no Quote ID is present, Nexus will validate that the Source PSP “owns” or has right to make payments from the Destination SAP, as defined in the Intermediary Agent 2 block.)

Message Transformation by Nexus

Nexus must transform certain values in the pacs.008 before it is sent to the Destination Country:

• Clearing System – updated from the Source IPS to the Destination IPS

• Interbank Settlement Amount – converted from the source currency amount to the Destination Currency Amount, at the exchange rate defined in the message (and validated against the original FX Quote ID)

Nexus also updates the position of the following parties in the pacs.008 to create an instruction that can be processed by the Destination IPS:

Element in pacs.008 message	Party defined in Source Leg	Party defined in Destination Leg
Debtor	The Sender (account holder at the Source PSP)	No change
Debtor Agent	Source PSP	No change
Creditor	The Recipient (account holder at the Destination PSP)	No change
Creditor Agent	Destination PSP	No change
Instructing Agent	Source PSP	Change: Destination SAP
Instructed Agent	Source SAP	Change: Destination PSP
Intermediary Agent 1	Source SAP	Empty
Intermediary Agent 1 Account	FX Provider’s Account at Source SAP	Empty
Intermediary Agent 2	Destination SAP	No change
Intermediary Agent 2 Account	FX Provider’s Account at Destination SAP	No change
Previous Instructing Agent 1	Not used	Change: Source SAP
Previous Instructing Agent 1 Account	Not used	Change: FX Provider’s Account at Source SAP

Security techniques are used to enable the Destination IPS to verify that the message was only updated by Nexus and has not been tampered with.