Article 11 – Processing a Reimbursement Claim
a. i. “A reimbursing bank shall have a maximum of three banking days following the day of receipt of the reimbursement claim to process the claim. A reimbursement claim received outside banking hours will be deemed to be received on the next following banking day. If a pre-debit notification is required by the issuing bank, this pre-debit notification period shall be in addition to the processing period mentioned above.”
Explanation: This clause mandates that the reimbursing bank has up to three banking days to process a reimbursement claim after receiving it. If the claim is received outside of the bank’s working hours, the claim is considered received on the next business day. Additionally, if the issuing bank requires a pre-debit notification, the time allowed for this notification is added to the initial three-day processing period.
Example: If a reimbursing bank receives a claim at 5:30 PM on a Friday, and the bank closes at 5:00 PM, the claim is considered received on Monday, the next banking day. The bank then has until Wednesday to process the claim. If a pre-debit notification is needed and takes two days, the bank would have until Friday to complete the processing.
a. ii. “If the reimbursing bank determines not to reimburse, either because of a non-conforming claim under a reimbursement undertaking or for any reason whatsoever under a reimbursement authorization, it shall give notice to that effect by telecommunication or, if that is not possible, by other expeditious means, no later than the close of the third banking day following the day of receipt of the claim (plus any additional period mentioned in sub-Article (i) above). Such notice shall be sent to the claiming bank and the issuing bank and, in the case of a reimbursement undertaking, it must state the reasons for non-payment of the claim.”
Explanation: If the reimbursing bank decides not to honor the reimbursement claim due to any reason, such as non-compliance with the reimbursement undertaking, it must notify the claiming bank and the issuing bank within three banking days after receiving the claim. If a pre-debit notification is required, the three-day period starts after this additional notification period. The notice must include reasons for non-payment.
Example: A bank receives a claim on Tuesday but finds that the claim is non-conforming on Wednesday. The bank must notify both the claiming bank and the issuing bank by Friday, explaining why the claim will not be paid.
b. “A reimbursing bank will not process a request for back value (value dating prior to the date of a reimbursement claim) from the claiming bank.”
Explanation: This clause prevents a reimbursing bank from accepting or processing any requests to backdate a reimbursement claim to a date earlier than the claim’s submission. Essentially, the reimbursement claim must be processed based on the date it was actually received, not any prior date.
Example: If a claiming bank submits a reimbursement claim on August 10th, it cannot request the reimbursing bank to process the payment as if it was received on August 1st. The reimbursing bank will only process the claim based on the August 10th submission date.
c. i. “When a reimbursing bank has not issued a reimbursement undertaking and a reimbursement is due on a future date: the reimbursement claim must specify the predetermined reimbursement date;”
Explanation: If the reimbursing bank has not issued a reimbursement undertaking and the reimbursement is scheduled for a future date, the claiming bank must clearly mention the predetermined date in its reimbursement claim.
Example: A claiming bank submits a reimbursement claim on August 1st, but the reimbursement is due on August 15th. The claim must explicitly state that the reimbursement is due on August 15th.
c. ii. “the reimbursement claim should not be presented to the reimbursing bank more than ten banking days prior to such predetermined date. If a reimbursement claim is presented more than ten banking days prior to the predetermined date, the reimbursing bank may disregard the reimbursement claim. If the reimbursing bank disregards the reimbursement claim, it must so inform the claiming bank by teletransmission or other expeditious means without delay.”
Explanation: This clause sets a limit on when a reimbursement claim can be submitted to the reimbursing bank, specifically not more than ten banking days before the predetermined reimbursement date. If a claim is submitted earlier than this, the reimbursing bank has the right to ignore it and must promptly inform the claiming bank if they do so.
Example: If the predetermined reimbursement date is August 20th, the claiming bank should not submit the claim before August 6th. If the claim is submitted on August 1st, the reimbursing bank can choose to disregard it and must notify the claiming bank immediately.
c. iii. “If the predetermined reimbursement date is more than three banking days following the day of receipt of the reimbursement claim, the reimbursing bank has no obligation to provide notice of non-reimbursement until such predetermined date, or no later than the close of the third banking day following the receipt of the reimbursement claim plus any additional period mentioned in (a) (i) above, whichever is later.”
Explanation: If the predetermined reimbursement date is more than three banking days after the reimbursement claim is received, the reimbursing bank is not required to notify the claiming bank of any non-reimbursement decision until the predetermined date. However, the bank may also choose to give notice by the end of the third banking day after receiving the claim, considering any extra time allowed for pre-debit notifications as mentioned earlier.
Example: A reimbursement claim is received on August 1st, with a predetermined reimbursement date of August 10th. The reimbursing bank has until August 10th to inform the claiming bank if they decide not to reimburse. However, if the bank decides earlier, it can notify the claiming bank by August 4th.
d. “Unless otherwise expressly agreed to by the reimbursing bank and the claiming bank, a reimbursing bank will effect reimbursement under a reimbursement claim only to the claiming bank.”
Explanation: This clause ensures that reimbursement is made only to the claiming bank unless there is a specific agreement between the reimbursing bank and the claiming bank stating otherwise. This is to maintain clarity and prevent unauthorized third-party claims.
Example: If Bank A submits a reimbursement claim to Bank B, the reimbursement will be made directly to Bank A. Bank B will not reimburse any third party unless explicitly agreed upon with Bank A.
e. “A reimbursing bank assumes no liability or responsibility if it honours a reimbursement claim indicating that a payment, acceptance or negotiation was made under reserve or against an indemnity, and shall disregard such indication.”
Explanation: This clause states that a reimbursing bank is not liable if it processes a reimbursement claim that mentions that the original payment, acceptance, or negotiation was made under reserve or against an indemnity. The reimbursing bank will disregard such indications when processing the claim.
Example: If a reimbursement claim from Bank A to Bank B states that the payment was made under reserve, Bank B can process the reimbursement claim without considering the reservation or indemnity conditions mentioned. Bank B will not be held responsible for any issues arising from those conditions.