Understand a payment reject, from the code to the customer message
A four-character code and a label in capitals: that is all the bank returns. You still have to work out what happened, who should act, whether the transaction can be retried, and what to tell the customer who was not paid.
What the diagnosis gives you
- The plain-language meaning of the reason, beyond the standard label.
- The likely causes, ranked from the most frequent to the rarest.
- The action to take, and by whom: the originator, the bank, or the beneficiary.
- Retry: possible after correction, or to be avoided.
- The CFONB equivalent of the ISO reason, essential when your internal tools still think in CFONB codes.
- A message you can pass on to the customer, free of banking jargon.
Two complete reference sets
The 29 ISO 20022 reject reasons and the 43 EBICS error codes are free to consult, code by code. The public pages give the meaning and the context; the detailed causes and the full procedure are in the app, with three free resolutions per reference set as soon as you create an account, no password needed.
See the 29 ISO 20022 reject reasons →See the 43 EBICS error codes →The case of EBICS returns
A reject does not always land on the payment: it often lands on the transport. Expired certificate, missing signature, invalid signer state, unauthorised OrderType — the EBICS reference set covers versions 2.5 and 3.0, with the category and severity of each code, because an informational code is not handled like a blocking refusal.
Frequently asked questions
Which return files are read?
Payment status reports (pain.002), interbank rejects and returns (pacs.002), and EBICS protocol returns.
Why are some resolutions reserved?
The meaning of a code is public and will stay public. The qualification work — ranked causes, the procedure, the edge cases seen in the field — is what takes time to produce and keep current: that is what the plan includes. Three resolutions per reference set are free so you can judge for yourself.
Can a reject be retried as is?
It depends on the reason: some call for a simple correction and a resend, others rule out a retry, in particular when the account is closed or the mandate revoked. Every page states this explicitly.