July 1, 2020 | Expanded Scope for the X9C Corporate Banking Subcommittee

We have an exciting and important agenda in X9C Corporate Banking (X9C) for the upcoming 3-5 years.  Recently, the scope for X9C has been expanded to include Faster Payments and we will be working directly on supporting standards that impact both B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer). Our work collaborating with The Clearing House to produce the associated Information Reporting BTRS/BAI2 standard for Real-time Payments set the foundation for this new direction. 

As payments evolve to real-time, X9C is committed to supporting Faster Payment initiatives to ensure a thoughtful end-to-end payment experience.  Through ISO 20022 XML formats, payment origination and reporting can be greatly normalized across payment systems worldwide to simplify processes to identify and book payments. Now is the time that we will be engaging the Federal Reserve on Faster Payments, SWIFT on their migration to ISO, and other future initiatives that impact corporate banking clients, service providers, and other financial institutions. Do not miss out! Contact us to find out how your organization can be involved.

April 22, 2020 | Revised BTRS Codes List 3.2 Now Available

The X9C Commercial Banking Workgroup revised the BAI2/BTRS Codes List to match the Real-Time Payment (RTP) pacs.008 Version 2.9 (target release May 2020). This version supports Ultimate Parties and improvements to account, postal address, remittance information reported.  This revision provides financial institutions and service providers with a common specification to ensure that BAI2/BTRS reports RTP in a consistent format across the industry.

March 14, 2019 | What is the Way Forward for the BAI2 and BTRS? Public Survey

What are YOUR Information reporting challenges and trends regarding BAI2, BTRS, and ISO20022 CAMT? Please tell us through this short survey, whether you are a corporate or commercial client, a financial institution or vendor. Getting feedback can help our team identify priorities to work on improvements to formats and services to help you.  Click here to begin the survey.

September 20, 2017 | BTRS Real-Time Payments Codes and Format Guide is Now Published

X9C1 BTRS workgroup has published new Detail and Summary codes to support the new Real Time Payment credit transfers. The publication is now available under the “Download X9.121 BTRS” tab.

May 11, 2017 | BTRS Now Supports Real-Time Payments

X9C1 BTRS workgroup has published new Detail and Summary codes to support the new Real Time Payment credit transfers. In collaboration with The Clearing House and the Common Global Implementation Committee (CGI for ISO 2022), these codes became the standard in both the BAI2 and BTR3 formats. The codes recognize Real-Time Payments as a new payment method separate from Wire and ACH, that allows BTRS/BAI2 users to report and reconcile them separately. Detail Codes 158/458 represent the credit/debit transactions and Summary Codes 159/459 represent the credit/debit summary totals. These codes are effective immediately. Please visit x9.org/BTRS/download-btrs to download the new “X9.121 BTRS Version 3.1 – Codes List”. The X9C subcommittee is currently working on standards for the narrative text (Record 88), to provide a best practice across the industry.

March 1, 2017 | BTRS Validator is Now Available

X9 and Volante Technologies Inc. are pleased to announce the release of a web-based application for testing and validating BTRS messages. The application is web-based and can be used by anybody wishing to compare their BTRS messages with the requirements of the BTRS standard. Special thanks to Volante Technologies Inc. for writing the application and making it available to the public. The application can be accessed at BTRS Validator. Use of the application is provided free of charge. The application is provided without any guarantees or warranty. Neither X9 nor Volante Technologies is responsible for any damage or losses of any kind caused by the use or misuse of the application.

April 12, 2016 | A revision to X9.121 is Now Available

Introduction to Balance and Transaction Reporting Standard Version 3 – X9.121-2016

X9.121-2016 Balance and Transaction Reporting Standard (BTRS) Version 3 provides banks and corporations with a modernized format that will enable corporations to manage their business accounts more effectively, particularly across banking relationships. This edition defines how each bank must construct the BTRS file in order to produce harmonized formats and transaction code assignments – leading to more accurate reporting and lower development costs. BTRS Version 3 delivers a fully revised Format Guide that illustrates the standard specification of each Record Type. Every field is specifically documented in order to better define the attributes, rules, placement and best practices. This edition also consolidates the BTRS Status, Summary and Detail codes into a separate spreadsheet format for better visibility and usage by programming resources; plus easy association to ISO 20022, CAMT (Cash Management) and SWIFT MT (Message Type) code sets. BTRS Version 3 has been syndicated with banks, vendors, and corporations and addresses most of their challenges with the old BAI2 format communicated by the AFP membership. BTRS Version 3 should now be promoted as a standard for use by all banks and software vendors.

Introduction to Balance and Transaction Reporting Standard – X9.121

Market conditions and the need for greater visibility into cash flows have caused major corporations to focus increased attention on cash management. Banks have responded by offering services such as: electronic banking, information reporting, lockbox remittance processing, cash concentration, electronic transfers, and controlled disbursement which help companies improve cash flow and utilize idle funds.

Of equal importance are improvements in the delivery of information about a company’s balances and transactions. The corporate treasurer’s office must know the company’s cash position to control usable funds effectively. By closely monitoring cash position, the treasurer is better able to:

• analyze and project funding needs
• appropriate liquidity
• minimize idle cash balances
• perform account reconciliation
• maximize investment opportunities or
• reduce borrowings

Formerly, information needs were relatively simple. Data such as ledger balances, available balances, and float breakdowns were usually sufficient. However, in recent years the needs for more extensive reporting and greater transaction detail have dramatically increased. Banks have since responded with increasingly sophisticated reporting systems.

When a company uses the services of only a few banks, notifications and reporting received via electronic banking platforms usually meet the treasurer’s needs. But as the number of banking relationships increases, and as information requirements become more complex, the daily task of gathering information becomes more difficult and time-consuming.

In order to consolidate reporting, the corporate customers request each of their banks to report balance information to a central agent. The agent may be a bank, or it may be a third-party data aggregator. The corporate treasurer can then monitor banking relationships through a single data collection point. Many banks now offer data exchange to an increasing number of companies. And the products themselves have become more sophisticated, allowing treasurers to manipulate and respond to the information as it is presented.