Last updated on August 26th, 2022 at 02:28 pm
Going forward, deposit money banks in Nigeria are to make sure that the confirmation of swift transactions are done within two business working days, meaning confirmation are to get to swift within 48 hours of the performance of the transactions.
Nigeria’s apex bank issued the directive in a statement to all banks and signed by CBN’s Director for Banking Services, Sam C. Okojere.
Part of the statement read, “All banks operating in Nigeria are by this circular reminded of the need to ensure full compliance with SWIFT Universal Confirmations requirements.
“All SWIFT customers are required to provide on the outcome of all their incoming single customer payment (MT103) messages to SWIFT via the tracker, also known as Universal Confirmations.”
The banks are expected to confirm within 48 hours if the beneficiary’s account has been credited, payment is rejected, or if still pending and will be measured on whether they confirm 80% of their weekly payments.
“The confirmation should get to SWIFT within two business days on whether the beneficiary’s account has been credited, payment is rejected or pending.
“Please note that all financial institutions within the ecosystem will be measured on whether they confirm 80% of their weekly payments,” Okojere said.
Meeting the Swift compliance deadline
The CBN stated that Swift offers different ways to provide the status update through automated or manual methods.
All banks are advised to review and select the appropriate channel that suits their operations with a view to meeting the deadline of November 22, 2020, set by Swift for compliance.
Swift transaction channels
The channels on the swift transactions are:
- API calls
- Basic Tracker-manual
- Full GPI
- Automated MT199 confirmations
- Batch confirmation
- ISO 20022 (Available from 2022)
