BICFI (Bank Identifier Code), if present, must comply with ISO 9362: 4 letters (institution) + 2 letters (country) + 2 alphanumeric (location) + optional 3 alphanumeric (branch) = 8 or 11 characters total.
Why pain.001 files fail rule PAIN00111-FMT-003 (ERROR) and how to fix it: BICFI (Bank Identifier Code), if present, must comply with ISO 9362: 4 letters (institution) + 2 letters (country) + 2 alphanumeric (location) + optional 3 alphanumeric (branch) = 8 or 11 characters total.
What this rule checks
BICFI (Bank Identifier Code), if present, must comply with ISO 9362: 4 letters (institution) + 2 letters (country) + 2 alphanumeric (location) + optional 3 alphanumeric (branch) = 8 or 11 characters total.
Applies to pain.001.001.11. Severity: ERROR.
Why your file is rejected
Banks validate this rule server-side after the XSD schema check. When it fails, the whole file is typically rejected — even if every other transaction is correct — so a single violation blocks the entire batch.
How to fix it
This is a computed consistency check (a total or a transaction count). Recompute the value directly from the transactions in your file and make the header match exactly. Accumulate monetary amounts as integer minor units (cents) to avoid floating-point drift, then format with the correct number of decimals.
Verify before you send
Upload your pain.001 file to the validator below to confirm this rule — and every other business rule and XSD constraint — passes before your bank sees it.