When the payment doesn't make it.
Every exception answers the three questions operations always asks: where is the money, did settlement happen, and who acts next.
SEPA Credit Transfer
SEPA- Not enough money to send: an SCT rejected at the first gateThe debtor's account cannot cover the transfer when Bank Alfa validates the instruction.
- The account is closed: a returned SCTNordbank finds the beneficiary account closed — after interbank settlement has already completed.
- Paid twice: recalling a duplicate SCTBank Alfa discovers it sent the same transfer twice — after the beneficiary has already been credited.
SEPA Instant
SEPA- No answer in time: an instant payment that timed outNo confirmation arrives within the scheme's time limit after Bank Alfa sends the instant payment.
- The beneficiary bank says no: an instant payment rejected in secondsNordbank answers the instant payment negatively — the beneficiary account turns out to be closed.
- We want it back, they say no: a refused SCT Inst recallThe debtor claims an already-completed instant payment was a mistake, and the beneficiary will not agree to give the money back.
SEPA Direct Debit
SEPA- Taking it back: an 8-week no-questions-asked SDD refundWithin 8 weeks of the debit date, Riya asks Bank Alfa to refund a Core direct debit — no reason required.
- No mandate, no pull: a Core direct debit returnedBank Alfa finds no valid mandate on file for the incoming collection (or the account cannot cover it).
- No refund by design: an authorised B2B collection standsAfter being debited for an authorised B2B collection, the business debtor asks its bank for a refund.
- No registered mandate: a B2B collection refused up frontThe debtor bank checks an incoming SDD B2B collection and finds no matching mandate registered for the debtor.
Verification of Payee
SEPA- A warning that works: Verification of Payee returns NO MATCHThe VoP check returns NO MATCH — the payee name the payer typed does not match the name on the account behind the IBAN.
- Close match: Verification of Payee warns of a near nameThe VoP check returns CLOSE MATCH — the payee name the payer typed is close to, but not exactly, the name registered on the account.
STEP2 (pan-European ACH)
SEPATARGET2 (euro RTGS)
SEPATIPS (instant settlement)
SEPACHAPS (UK sterling RTGS)
DOMESTICFaster Payments (UK)
DOMESTICBacs (UK three-day cycle)
DOMESTIC- Wrong account: a Bacs Direct Credit returned through the cycleOn entry day the payee account details are wrong or the account is closed, so the credit cannot be applied.
- Unpaid direct debit: the ARUDD return after settlement dayThe payer's account has insufficient funds (or the Direct Debit Instruction is cancelled), so the bank cannot pay the collection.
FedNow (US instant)
DOMESTIC- Nothing settles: a FedNow payment the receiver cannot applyNordbank cannot apply the payment (for example the account is closed), so it answers negatively before any settlement.
- Not prefunded: a FedNow payment rejected for lack of coverBank Alfa's Federal Reserve master account does not hold enough prefunded balance to cover an instant FedNow payment.
ACH (US batch, Nacha)
DOMESTICRTP (US instant, TCH)
DOMESTICRTGS (India, RBI)
DOMESTICNEFT (India, RBI)
DOMESTICIMPS (India, NPCI)
DOMESTICUPI (India, NPCI)
DOMESTICNACH (India, NPCI)
DOMESTICRITS (Australia, RBA)
DOMESTICNPP (Australia)
DOMESTICMEPS+ (Singapore, MAS)
DOMESTICFAST (Singapore)
DOMESTICPayNow (Singapore)
DOMESTICFedwire (US RTGS)
DOMESTICCHIPS (US netting)
DOMESTICCHATS (Hong Kong RTGS)
DOMESTICFPS (Hong Kong)
DOMESTICBOJ-NET (Japan RTGS)
DOMESTICZengin System (Japan)
DOMESTICSIC (Switzerland RTGS)
DOMESTICPix (Brazil)
DOMESTICSTR (Brazil RTGS)
DOMESTICSPEI (Mexico)
DOMESTICLynx (Canada RTGS)
DOMESTICInterac e-Transfer (Canada)
DOMESTICSWIFT MT correspondent
SWIFT- Wrong account number abroad: a returned MT103Cassia Bank cannot apply the credit — the beneficiary account number in the MT103 does not exist on its books.
- Too late for today: an MT103 that missed the cut-offThe MT103 reaches Meridian Bank after its USD cut-off, so execution slips to the next business day.
- The announcement without the money: a cover that never matchedCassia Bank holds an MT103 announcing funds, but the matching MT202 COV never arrives — the cover was sent with a mismatched reference.
SWIFT gpi (tracked cross-border)
SWIFTCBPR+ (ISO 20022 cross-border)
CBPR+- Stopped for screening: a sanctions hold at the intermediaryMeridian Bank's transaction screening flags a party name in the pacs.008 as a potential sanctions-list match.
- The address that lost its shape: truncated data needs repairAn upstream MT-to-MX translation squeezed a long address into the pacs.008 badly — party data arrives truncated and unstructured.
- Whose money is this? A request for information before creditingCassia Bank cannot confidently apply the credit — the creditor name in the pacs.008 does not match the account holder on record.
- Cover missing: an ISO 20022 cover payment that does not matchThe creditor agent holds a pacs.008 announcing a payment, but no matching cover (pacs.009 COV) has arrived on its nostro.