Acme Citibank China Payments

This describes validations / allowed data formats for Acme payments going through Citibank China. These will be validated by Acme and further validated by the bank. These rules may be stricter than what the bank requires.

Common Definitions

• SWIFT Character Set:

  • The 26 uppercase Latin letters A-Z
  • The 26 lowercase Latin letters a-z
  • The 10 digits 0-9
  • Forward slash /
  • Hyphen -
  • Question mark ?
  • Colon :
  • Left and right parentheses ( )
  • Full stop .
  • Comma ,
  • Single quote '
  • Plus sign +
  • Space

• Citi restrictions:

  • For SWIFT character set: do not start a field with any of the following characters: /, -, :
  • Acme does not apply a China bank-holiday calendar. The bank may still reject a paymentDate that is not a CN working day.

CN_ACH

China domestic ACH transfer.

CN_RTGS

China domestic RTGS transfer for high-value payments.

CN_TT_INTL

Telegraphic transfer for international payments. Currency must not be CNY; use CN_TT_DOM for RMB.

CN_TT_DOM

RMB cross-border payment. Despite the type name, this is not a domestic FCY rail. Currency must be CNY only; use CN_TT_INTL for other currencies.

SAFE BOP

For CN_TT_INTL and CN_TT_DOM you must send three payment fields. They are not interchangeable:

Use application form type O (overseas) for both types. Customer type is C (business).

Acme only checks list size, string length (≤35), and amount shape. Citi checks the actual SAFE content.

Use this table with Citi’s Values — CHINA SAFE BOP Declaration Sub-form. Join the parts of a slot with /.

regulatoryInformation

regulatoryAmounts

regulatoryInstructionInfo (each string starts with the code word)

Typical payment

Bonded goods N, no second BOP code. Send all 6 strings. Unused slots (Payment Character, SAFE number, contract) are "" so later slots stay in position. Replace the {…} values.

{
  "regulatoryInstructionInfo": ["/CNS1/{code 1 remark}"],
  "regulatoryAmounts": [
    { "amount": {same minor units as amount}, "currency": "{payment currency}" }
  ],
  "regulatoryInformation": [
    "O/C/{6-digit BOP code}/{purpose}/{applicant name}",
    "/N/{phone}",
    "",
    "",
    "{unit code}/{SAFE country}",
    ""
  ]
}

Do not skip middle or trailing unused slots. Send "" so the index still matches the Citi slot.

When you need extra fields

Second BOP code

• Slot [1] becomes {code2}/N/{phone} (or Y if bonded)
• Add { "amount": …, "currency": … } as regulatoryAmounts[1] (this amount is sent with Inf slot [1], not as a separate amount-only block)
• Add /CNS2/{code 2 remark} to regulatoryInstructionInfo

Bonded goods Y

• Slot [1] uses Y instead of N
• Add /CNIN/{invoice number} to regulatoryInstructionInfo
• Put the contract number in slot [5] instead of ""

Optional slot [3]

• {SAFE approval or register number}/{fund source}
• Fund source: F FX, P purchase, O others
• If you skip it, keep "" so later slots do not move

Domestic form type D

• Do not use D for these payment types unless Citi told you to
• If you do, slot [2] must be Payment Character: X bonded area, E export processing zone, D diamond exchange, M downstream processing, O other

Example: CN_TT_INTL

USD 10,000.00, BOP code 600101, advance payment, not bonded. Replace 12345678 with your Citi unit code.

{
  "amount": 1000000,
  "currency": "USD",
  "customerReference": "CNTT002",
  "bankChargeBearer": "SHARED",
  "regulatoryInstructionInfo": ["/CNS1/Trade settlement"],
  "regulatoryAmounts": [{ "amount": 1000000, "currency": "USD" }],
  "regulatoryInformation": ["O/C/600101/A/Zhang Wei", "/N/13800138000", "", "", "12345678/CHN", ""],
  "receiver": {
    "name": "Shanghai Export Co",
    "bank": "CITIUS33XXX",
    "bankAccountNumber": "9876543210",
    "accountName": "Shanghai Export Account Title",
    "address": {
      "line1": "100 Wall Street",
      "city": "New York",
      "state": "NY",
      "postalCode": "10005",
      "country": "US"
    }
  }
}

That SAFE block means:

Example: CN_TT_DOM

Same three SAFE fields. Use CNY for amount and regulatoryAmounts.

{
  "amount": 1000000,
  "currency": "CNY",
  "customerReference": "CNTTDOM0001",
  "bankChargeBearer": "SHARED",
  "paymentDetails": "Invoice 2024-001",
  "regulatoryInstructionInfo": ["/CNS1/Trade settlement"],
  "regulatoryAmounts": [{ "amount": 1000000, "currency": "CNY" }],
  "regulatoryInformation": ["O/C/600101/A/Zhang Wei", "/N/13800138000", "", "", "12345678/CHN", ""],
  "receiver": {
    "name": "Shanghai Import Export Co",
    "bank": "Bank of Shanghai Co Ltd",
    "bankAccountNumber": "9876543210",
    "accountName": "账户户名",
    "address": {
      "line1": "100 Huangpu Road",
      "city": "Shanghai",
      "country": "CN"
    }
  }
}