Create Beneficiary RESTful API

API Details

When working with this endpoint note that:

  • Unlike the Direct Debit payment API, Beneficiary and CT requests do not require a Creditor Scheme ID or SUN reference.
  • Before you can initiate a payment via the Create Credit Transfer request you must first create a beneficiary.
  • Alternatively it is possible to generate a new beneficiary and a payment in a single request. See the Create Credit Transfer and Beneficiary request.
  • At its most basic, a beneficiary requires a name and a bank account reference. Additional data may also be stored but is not mandatory (address details and contact details, for example).
  • If you specify domestic account details for a GBP beneficiary account, specify the Sort Code in domesticBranchCode (do not use domesticBankCode).

Idempotency

The Idempotency check is only against successful requests, so where a previous call has resulted in any of the following HTTP Response Codes, that Idempotency key may be reused without any issue:

  • 401
  • 403
  • 404
  • 408
  • 500
  • 501
  • 503

Managing Address Details in SEPA

The European Payments Council, which manages SEPA rules, has specific guidelines for how addresses should be used when provided. Please review the following points to understand the specific requirements.

If either you or your beneficiary is located outside the EEA, you must provide countrparty address information, including:

  • line1 or streetName
  • town
  • country
    This requirement comes from the Wire Transfer Regulation (WTR), an EU law designed to ensure that banks and payment providers can identify the sender of a transfer. Providing these address details helps track payments and prevent fraud, money laundering, and other financial crime.

If both you and your beneficiary are located within the EEA, providing an address for your payee is not mandatory.

If you choose to provide an address voluntarily (even when not required), at a minimum you must include:

  • town
  • country