Cross-border wire transfers shall be accompanied by accurate, complete, and meaningful originator and beneficiary information.

[Vivek Jalan]

The RBI Vide RBI/2023-24/25 has instructed banks and financial institutions to ensure that crossborder as well as domestic wire transfers contain complete information about the originator and beneficiary. This is done to prevent them from being misused as a channel for money laundering, terrorist financing platforms. Domestic wire transfers of Rs 50,000 and above, where the originator is not an account holder of the ordering RE, shall also be accompanied by originator and beneficiary information as indicated for cross-border wire transfers. The instructions, however, are not intended to cover any transfer that flows from a transaction carried out using a credit card, debit card, or Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) for the purchase of goods or services. As per the updated Master Directions, all cross-border wire transfers must be accompanied by the following information about the originator and beneficiary -

(a) name of the originator;

(b) the originator account number where such an account is used to process the transaction;

(c) the originator’s address, or national identity number, or customer identification number, or date and place of birth;

(d) name of the beneficiary; and

(e) the beneficiary account number where such an account is used to process the transaction.

The RBI has updated the instructions in the Master Direction on KYC related to Wire Transfers in order to align the same with the relevant recommendation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Further, domestic wire transfer, where the originator is an account holder of the ordering Regulated Entity, shall be accompanied by the originator and beneficiary information, as in the case of cross border wire transfers. “Cross-border wire transfer” refers to any wire transfer where the ordering financial institution and beneficiary financial institution are located in different countries. This term also refers to any chain of wire transfer in which at least one of the financial institutions involved is located in a different country. “Domestic wire transfer” refers to any wire transfer where the ordering financial institution and beneficiary financial institution are located in India. This term, therefore, refers to any chain of wire transfer that takes place entirely within the borders of India, even though the system used to transfer the payment message may be located in another country.