Standard Chartered Straight2Bank: SWIFT XML Requirements for TT and RFT Payments | SEPA & ISO 20022 Knowledge Hub

Scope: the implemented Straight2Bank profile supports only SWIFT TT cross-border wires and RFT payments routed through a third-party bank. It does not model domestic ACH, RTGS, BT, PAY, cheque, US NACHA, WHT, VPP, or China eBOP.

Straight2Bank rejects files for details that generic ISO 20022 tooling can leave untouched: an eight-character agent BIC, a plus sign in remittance text, or two references that look distinct after character 16. The profile deliberately fails before it writes a file so that a reconciliation identifier or bank-facing address is never silently changed.

TT and RFT: choose the payment type before generating

The profile writes a separate payment-information group for each type. TT is encoded with SvcLvl/Cd = URGP and LclInstrm/Cd = IN. RFT is encoded with LclInstrm/Prtry = TPBT. The reverse classification also recognizes MBTR as RFT.

TT is available only when the debtor payment centre is in US, GB, DE, NP, MO, or AU. For another debtor country, the generator rejects TT and requires RFT instead. An unrecognized or empty type defaults to TT, so explicitly map the payment-type column when a file contains RFT payments.

Field rules that cause the most rejections

Rule	What the profile enforces	How to fix it
Agent BIC	Recipient Bank BIC and Intermediary Bank BIC must be exactly 11 characters. `SCB_003` rejects the 8-character short form.	Use the full branch-qualified BIC in both affected columns.
Text character set	`SCB_001`/`SCB_002` and generator checks allow only letters, digits, `/ - ? : ( ) . , '`, and space.	Remove unsupported punctuation such as `+`, double quotes, currency symbols, ampersands, emoji, and accented characters before export.
End-to-end reference	The first 16 characters must not duplicate another reference in the file. The bank also checks that prefix against the preceding 365 days.	Put a differentiating value inside the first 16 characters and maintain a history-aware reference sequence.
Address lines	The profile uses English Set1 address output: up to three 35-character lines, with word wrapping and a final Town + country-name + postcode line.	Provide street, city, country, and postcode separately; avoid long unbroken text that cannot wrap cleanly.

Why 8-character BICs fail here

Many SWIFT flows accept an eight-character BIC without a branch suffix. Straight2Bank's implemented profile does not for the recipient and intermediary agents: it checks the supplied value before XML generation and emits a row-specific error if its length is anything other than 11. Do not append a guessed branch code. Obtain the full BIC from the beneficiary or their bank.

Rejected for Recipient Bank BIC:
CHASUS33

Accepted length:
CHASUS33XXX

Charge bearer: the SLEV to SHAR fallback

For a Straight2Bank SWIFT payment, the generator writes SHAR when the supplied charge bearer is missing or equals SLEV. It preserves an explicitly supplied CRED, DEBT, or SHAR. In practice, do not rely on a default inherited from another workflow: set the intended charge bearer in the source or integration, then inspect <ChrgBr> in the generated payment-information group.

The strict character set is a validation rule, not a cleanup rule

The profile validates names, remittance information, both street and city fields, the end-to-end reference, creditor-agent instructions, debtor-agent instructions, and regulatory-reporting information. It does not transliterate or quietly strip unsupported characters. That loud failure protects the original reconciliation reference and makes the failing row and field visible.

EndToEndId: only the first 16 characters identify the collision

PAYMENT-2026-08-001-A and PAYMENT-2026-08-001-B are not distinct if their first 16 characters match. The generator detects collisions within the uploaded file and stops with both row numbers. It cannot see the bank's prior 365-day reference history, so a file can still be rejected if its prefix was used earlier. Design reference IDs with uniqueness at the start, not at the end.

Address formatting: 35-character word wrapping

The address builder combines available building number, street, free address text, and subdivision, wraps them without splitting words where possible, and reserves the final line for town, English country name, and postcode. Each line is capped at 35 characters. The total address length is capped at 105 characters when the beneficiary name is 35 characters or shorter, and 70 characters when it is longer.

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