Bank Code Reports Explained

What are Bank Code Reports?

This is a service offering unique to South African Banks and is primarily used to establish whether a potential customer, or an existing customer, is considered risky or not based on a specific credit amount, trading terms, and point in time.

A Bank Code Report is essentially an affordability assessment used to determine a subject’s ability to repay an amount over the given terms.

A Bank Code is requested via the bank where the subject holds their account (the account holder). The bank reviews the account holder’s account and a code is generated by that banking institute, considering the current situation of the account holder in regard to the credit amount being queried.

Example of How it Works

ABC Shoes PTY Ltd, bank account number 12345678 at Bank Y is good for an amount of R 30,000 over 30-day payment terms. These details are submitted to Bank Y to supply a code, given it meets the conditions listed below under important points

Where Can You Use This?

Options Available

Normal Bank Code: Also referred to as a 24-Hour Bank Code or a Standard Bank Code.
Full and General Bank Code: Expands on the Normal Bank Code, and also assesses account conduct, such as when the account was opened, previously dishonoured papers (returned cheques (RD), and provides an overall comment on the account conduct.

Turnaround Times and Possible Delays

The service level agreement is a guideline for these products. There are many factors that can affect turn-around. You can view our guidelines below.

Normal/Standard Bank Codes usually take 24 hours, depending on the credit amount and banking institute. If referred, it can take up to 5 business days.
Full and general can take up to 5 business days.

Important Notice

The below explains what you can expect with reference to Standard Bank (SBSA) Bank Code Requests:

Cred-it-data can provide bank codes on subjects using Standard Bank accounts in South Africa and crossborder.

In General

Cred-it-data is your risk navigator – your partner into the known. We continuously investigate new or alternative product solutions to better cater for your needs. Following the recent events with regards to the SBSA Bank Code Service offering, Cred-it-data feels that it is important to take note of the following:

Consent is of extreme importance, and we at Cred-it-data believe that Credit Providers should ensure that their Credit Agreement sufficiently caters for explicit consent, including bank code requests (for any of the participating banks). This is best practice, after all.
We at Cred-it-data feel that credit policies and procedures should be easily adaptable, as the credit environment (regulations and legislation) changes every so often.
In terms of POPIA and Bank Regulations, there is no POPIA impact if explicit consent is received from the business.
–TransUnion

** Cred-it-data will communicate any further developments, as they occur. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any further queries or concerns.

Code	Description	Explanation
A	Undoubted for the amount	A firm indication of undoubted financial standing for the amount stated.
B	Good for the amount	The subject has a good record of meeting their financial commitments, and the amount is well within the capacity of an ordinary business commitment.
C	Good for the amount quoted, if strictly in the way of business	The subject has a good record, the amount may appear high in relation to normal transactions on the account. Code C is the most common, and the account holder is unlikely to commit themselves beyond their means.
D	Fair risk for the amount	The financial position of the subject is modest or unknown, but where the account is satisfactorily conducted. The subject is considered okay for moderate business commitments.
E	Figures considered too high	The amount of the enquiry is too high for the given subject and terms.
F	Financial position unknown	This code is given when there is insufficient information to assess the position of the subject. This code is also given when the conduct of the account is such that an opinion cannot be expressed.
G	Paper occasionally dishonoured	This code is given when, on isolated occasions, cheques and other instruments like debit/stop orders were returned unpaid for lack of funds. For this purpose, each unpaid instrument has a lifespan of one year.
H	Paper frequently dishonoured	This code is given when, at regular intervals, cheques and other instruments like debit/stop were returned unpaid for lack of funds. For this purpose, each unpaid instrument has a lifespan of one year.

Important product facts

You can receive multiple Bank Codes, for example, Code C & Code G, or Code E & Code F.

In the example of Code C & Code G: the subject is good for the amount in general, but in isolated cases funds have been returned due to insufficient funds.

A Bank Code is NOT an Account Verification.
Bank Codes are only offered by participating Banks – not all banks offer this service.
Bank Codes are only offered on Current/Cheque accounts. A Bank Code cannot be issued on a Savings Account.
The default on trading terms is set to 30 days. Trading terms of less than 30 days will be re-worked to 30-day terms. Banks will also round off terms to the nearest 30, 60, 90, and 180 days.
The Account Holder’s name must be exactly as it appears on the cheque book, statement, or letter from the Bank. If it does not match 100%, the code will not be issued. The un-issued code will return as “Name and Number Differ” or “Name Incomplete”. An Account holder’s name can be K2000/232323/23 Pty Ltd Trading as ABC Shoes Pty Ltd – it may contain special characters.

Costs are incurred even if the result is “Name and Number differ” or “Name Incomplete”.

The Bank Code is issued at a certain point in time and can change at any point. It does not predict any future conduct on the account.
Turnaround times vary based on the bank, amount and the availability of the banker(s) to comment on the account.