TN 71 (04-17)

This section describes how to code bank data for international direct deposit (IDD) of Title II benefits to a financial institution (FI) in Sierra Leone. The Social Security Administration (SSA) stores IDD bank data on the MBR in the same fields used for United States (U.S.) direct deposit. Special coding identifies the data as a Sierra Leone direct deposit and allows us to route benefit payments through the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (FRBKC) and the processor bank in Sierra Leone to the beneficiary's local FI.

NOTE: U.S. domestic (i.e., non-border) field offices (FOs) should not attempt to process an IDD request for this country. U.S. domestic FOs must forward all appropriate information to the Office of Earnings and International Operations, Division of International Operations (OEIO, DIO) for processing. For more detail on IDD requests and forwarding information, see to GN 02402.201, GN 02402.205, GN 01010.255, and GN 01702.310C.

A. How we receive IDD bank data

We receive requests to input bank data by mail, phone, or fax in the following formats:

• Blank check;

• SSA-1199-OP67 (International Direct Deposit Signup Form for Sierra Leone) or

• Any document containing required banking information.

NOTE: If upon receipt of the information, there are any discrepancies, follow instructions in GN 00203.020 and GN 02402.025.

B. Multi-country contract

The processing FI in Sierra Leone will have a prefix of 68 at the beginning of the Routing Transit Number (RTN).

C. Overview of IDD for Sierra Leone

The beneficiary must provide complete information to DIO or the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) for input. DIO will fax incomplete forms to the FBU that serves Sierra Leone. The FBU contacts the beneficiary or FI for additional information..

D. Description of Sierra Leone IDD bank data

The data for coding IDD for Sierra Leone comes from banks determined by the FRBKC. The bank data for Sierra Leone consists of 29 characters. However, the bank data on the MBR will reflect 27 characters including the country code of H.

E. Procedure for coding Sierra Leone bank data

The FRBKC relies on SSA 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 SSA. When establishing or changing IDD bank data for Sierra Leone, you can use an SSA system (i.e., Modernized Claims System (MCS), Manual Adjustment Credit and Award Data Entry (MACADE), etc.). However, you must go to ITS.gov to enter the following information:

• account number;

• account ownership;

• account type;

• beneficiary address;

• bank code

• country;

• enrollment status;

• first and last name of the beneficiary;

• payee indicator; and

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

1. SWIFT-BIC code obtained from the FI

The SWIFT code contains a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 11 characters:

• First four characters - bank code (only letters);

• Next two characters - ISO 3166-1 alpha-two country code (only letters);

• Next two characters - location code (letters and digits) (passive participant have "1" in the second character); and

• Last three characters - branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office) (letters and digits).

2. Initial award processing

If you are working on an initial award, you must update ITS.gov using the bank account information prior to processing the award to ensure that the beneficiary receives his or her payment. If the complete bank account information is not in ITS.gov when the payment processes, the payment rejects and returns to SSA.

3. Adding or updating bank data using SSA systems

You must update ITS.gov on the same day if you use an SSA system to add or update bank data on the MBR (i.e. Post Entitlement Online System (POS), MACADE, etc.). Enter all POS direct deposit changes according to normal procedures. When coding IDD bank data in an SSA system for Sierra Leone within four business days of the current operational month (COM) cutoff date, use the procedure outlined in the following chart:

F. Example - Coding Sierra Leone Direct Deposit

The customer provides us with a signup form for Sierra Leone containing the following information:

Bank Code: 123456

Account Number: 123456789012345678

1. Derive the RTN as follows

• Code the prefix of 68.

• Code the six-digit bank code “123456”

• Code the one-digit check code (i.e., 4) (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 as follows

• Start with a country code of “H” designated for Sierra Leone; and

• Code 16 digits of the 18-digit Customer Account Number “1234567890123456”

The technician will obtain the following:

RTN: 681234564

Checking

DAN: H1234567890123456

The coding in POS will reflect:

DIRECT DEPOSIT ROUTING TRANSIT NUMBER: 681234564

ACCOUNT TYPE (C/S): C

DEPOSITOR ACCOUNT NUMBER: H1234567890123456

CANCEL DIRECT DEPOSIT (Y):

DIRECT EXPRESS (Y):

The MBR will reflect the following information:

RTN- 681234564 DAN - CH1234567890123456