Support Article
Slash Character is not accepted in SWIFT 75 or 76 field
Summary
While creating a SWIFT Message from Smart Investigate, for the following messages:
MT196, 296, 996,195, 295, 995
The fields 75 and/or 76 do not accept as a valid character the slash character "/" (as a row starting character), prompting the user with the attached error.
While the presence of this character is not being admitted by Smart Investigate, is instead accepted (with a specific behaviour) as SWIFT standard:
"Where a message contains more than one answer, each answer must appear on a separate line.
Numbers in brackets, mean that supplementary information is required. This supplementary information must be the first information following the Answer Number .
When supplement 2 is used, that is, two different pieces of supplementary information are provided, the second piece of information should be preceded by a slash '/'.
If additional space is required for providing details of the answer(s), this information can be continued in field 77A."
Please refer to the following links for further information:
https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/public/en_uk/uscm_20150724/aif003.htm#mtn95-3-field-75
https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/public/en_uk/uscm_20150724/ajf003.htm#mtn96-3-field-76
PRPC 7.1.9
Attachmet:
-screenshot with Error
Error Messages
"** line must not start with '/'"
Steps to Reproduce
1. Create New Correspondence.
2. SWIFT Message (MT196, 296, 996,195, 295, 995).
3. Insert, as a leading character, in the 75 or 76 Field a slash character "/".
4. The field is validated with a "** line must not start with '/'" error (see attached "Error.png").
Resolution
Here’s the explanation for the reported behavior:
Below is a screen print of validate rule of the SWIFT 76 field. We are checking if the correspondence includes a code, or is without a code. The error you are reporting, is specific for messages without a code. The comment highlighted in the code below, explains that the behaviour reported is intentional. Swift messages without code cannot start with a / character, only messages with a code can start with a / character.
The validation is therefore working as expected. Which means the workaround you have applied will potentially allow your system to process incorrectly formatted messages based on whether they have a code included or not.
Published April 1, 2016 - Updated December 2, 2021
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