Payment purpose codes

Payment purpose codes intro

Payment Purpose Codes (PPCs), also known as payment reason codes, are standardized identifiers that provide the reason for a crossborder or international payment. PPCs enable payers to categorize the payment, whether for goods, services, investments, or other purposes. In crossborder payments, PPCs add an additional layer of transparency by ensuring funds are used for legitimate purposes and are considered mandatory or required fields by the Central Banking authority in certain jurisdictions, i.e. China, India, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Payment origination

All outbound payments where the “To” currency is one of: CNY (China), INR (India), MYR (Malaysia), and AED (United Arab Emirates) require the use of the Payment Purpose Code field to be populated with the corresponding PPC for the respective currency.

The following API fields, found in the Request payment quote endpoint are associated with payment purpose codes:

purposeCode

invoiceNumber - see Trade payments compliance.

InvoiceDate - see Trade payments compliance.

Payment types

There are specific types of payments for each of these countries that require Payment Purpose Codes.

The specific payment codes in the following table are used for and .

Country	Payment Type	Purpose of Payment Code (applies to both individual and corporate)
India (IN)	Local INR	Transfer
Malaysia (MY)	Local MYR	Transfer
UAE (AE)	SWIFT - All currencies	AFA: Receipts or payments from personal residents bank account or deposits abroad (where customer is a resident of UAE). AFL: Receipts or payments from personal non-residents bank account in Bahrain (where the customer is a non-resident of UAE).

China (CNY)

Code	Description
CTF	Cross-border capital transfer
GOD	Cross-border goods trade
STR	Cross-border service transfer
OTF	Other transfers

India (INR)

Code	Description	Use	Trade-Related
advertising	Advertising and public relations-related expenses	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
advisor_fees	Fees for advisory, technical, academic, or specialist assistance	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
construction	Construction costs/expenses	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
education	Education-related student expenses	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
exports	Payments for exported goods	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
family	Family maintenance	P2P	No
fund_investment	Mutual fund investment	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
goods	Trade settlement for goods and general goods trades	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
hotel	Hotel accommodation	B2B, B2C	No
insurance_claims	Insurance claims payment	P2B, P2P	Yes
insurance_premium	Insurance premium	B2B, B2C, P2B, P2P	No
loan_repayment	Repayment of loans	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
medical	Medical treatment and expenses	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
other_fees	Broker, front end, commitment, guarantee, and custodian fees	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
property_purchase	Purchase of residential property	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
property_rental	Payment of property rental	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
royalties	Royalty, trademark, patent, and copyright fees	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
services	Information service charges	B2B, B2C, P2B	Yes
tax	Tax payment	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
transfer	Transfer to own account	B2B, B2C,P2B	No
travel	Travel	B2B, B2C, P2B	No
utilities	Utility bills	B2B, B2C, P2B	No

Important restrictions

Local INR payments are not supported for the following purpose codes: salary, product indemnity insurance, and investment in shares.

Trade-related INR payments to a HDFC beneficiary bank and INR payments to any beneficiary bank using the code ‘delivery - delivery fees for goods’ are also not supported.

Trade payments compliance

For trade-related payments, invoiceNumber and InvoiceDate are required.

Maximum 1.5M INR per beneficiary account per day under RDA limits.

Charity restrictions

Only the following organizations are supported: UNICEF, Prime Minister Relief Fund, International Red Cross.

Sample code

Sample response for the /International/v1/quotes endpoint for India containing a Payment Purpose Code.

{
  "currency": "inr",
  "accountNumber": "158560897123",
  "fromAmount": "500",
  "toAmount": "",
  "beneficiary": {
    "firstName": "Jon",
    "lastName": "Smith",
    //"companyName": "",
    "fullName": "JonSmith",
    //"email": "[email protected]",
    "birthDate": "2001-06-18T13:05:09.015Z",
    "address": "1 Street",
    "city": "Winfield",
    "stateProvince": "",
    "postalCode": "IN12345",
    "countryCode": "IN",
    "entityType": "Individual"
  },
  "beneficiaryFi": {
    "bankName": "Bank IN",
    "bankCountryCode": "IN",
    "bankAddress": "1 Avenue",
    "bankAccountType": "Checking",
    "routingCodeType1": "SortCode",
    "routingCodeValue1": "123456789",
    "routingCodeType2": "aba",
    "routingCodeValue2": "123456789",
    "bicSwift": "TGCLGB99",
    "iban": "IN33BUKB20201555555555"
  },
  "priority": true,
  //"conversionFeeBps": 10,
  //"transactionFeeAmount": 10,
  "purposeCode": "exports",
  "invoiceNumber": "12345",
  "invoiceDate": "20250809"
  "purpose": "SRV"
}

{
    "id": "ea5a8df9-26ea-4ac7-8f0f-b35a00c61234",
    "accountNumber": "158560897007",
    "currency": "inr",
    "beneficiary": {
        "companyName": "Tech Importers India Pvt Ltd",
        "email": "[email protected]",
        "address": "23 Industrial Road",
        "city": "Bangalore",
        "stateProvince": "KA",
        "postalCode": "560001",
        "countryCode": "IN",
        "entityType": "Company"
    },
    "beneficiaryFi": {
        "bankName": "ICICI Bank",
        "bankCountryCode": "IN",
        "bankAddress": "MG Road",
        "bankAccountType": "Checking",
        "accountNumber": "123456789012",
        "routingCodeType1": "Ifsc",
        "routingCodeValue1": "ICIC0001234"
    },
    "fromAmount": 1500000,
    "toAmount": 123966750,
    "transactionFee": 100,
    "conversionRate": 82.6445,
    "estimatedDeliveryDate": "2025-09-17",
    "expiresAt": "2025-09-16T08:05:27.1354807-04:00",
    "status": "Created",
    "priority": false,
    "paymentNetwork": "Regular",
    "purpose": "Export of goods",
    "purposeCode": "exports",
    "invoiceNumber": "INV-20250825-001",
    "invoiceDate": "2025-08-25T06:00:00-04:00"
}

Malaysia (MYR)

Code	Description
advertising	Advertising payment
advisor_fees	Advisor fees payment
business_insurance	Business insurance payment
construction	Construction payment
delivery	Delivery payment
education	Education payment
exports	Exports payment
family	Family payment
fund_investment	Fund investment payment
hotel	Hotel payment
insurance_claims	Insurance claims payment
insurance_premium	Insurance premium payment
loan_repayment	Loan repayment
medical	Medical payment
office	Office payment
other_fees	Other fees payment
property_purchase	Property purchase payment
property_rental	Property rental payment
royalties	Royalties payment
services	Services payment
share_investment	Share investment payment
tax	Tax payment
transfer	Transfer payment
transportation	Transportation payment
travel	Travel payment
utilities	Utilities payment

United Arab Emirates (UED)

Code	Description
ACM	Agency Commission
AES	Advance payment against EOS
	Receipts or payments from personal residents bank account or deposits abroad
	Receipts or payments from personal non-resident bank account in the UAE
ALW	Allowances
ATS	Air transport
BON	Bonus
CCP	Corporate Card Payment
CEA	Equity and investment fund shares for the establishment of new company from residents abroad, equity of merger or acquisition of companies abroad from residents and participation to capital increase of related companies abroad
CEL	Equity and investment fund shares for the establishment of new company in the UAE from non-residents, equity of merger or acquisition of companies in the UAE from non-residents and participation to capital increase of related companies from non-residents in the UAE
CHC	Charitable Contributions
CIN	Commercial Investments
COM	Commission
COP	Compensation
CRP	Credit Card Payments
DCP	Pre-Paid Reloadable & Personalized Debit Card Payments
DIV	Dividend Payouts
DLA	Purchases and sales of foreign debt securities in not related companies – More than a year
DLF	Debt instruments intragroup loans, deposits foreign
DLL	Purchases and sales of securities issued by residents in not related companies – More than a year
DOE	Dividends on equity not intra group
DSA	Purchases and sales of foreign debt securities in not related companies – Less than a year
DSF	Debt instruments intragroup foreign securities
DSL	Purchases and sales of securities issued by residents in not related companies – Less than a year
EDU	Educational Support
EMI	Equated Monthly Instalments
EOS	End of Service
FAM	Family Support
FDA	Financial derivatives foreign
FDL	Financial derivatives in the UAE
FIA	Investment fund shares foreign
FIL	Investment fund shares in the UAE
FIS	Financial services
FSA	Equity other than investment fund shares in not related companies abroad
FSL	Equity other than investment fund shares in not related companies in the UAE
GDE	Goods Sold
GDI	Goods bought
GMS	Processing repair and maintenance services on goods
GOS	Government goods and services embassies etc
GRI	Government related income taxes tariffs capital transfers etc
IFS	Information services
IGD	Intra group dividends
IGT	Inter group transfer
IID	Intra group interest on debt
INS	Insurance services
IOD	Income on deposits
IOL	Income on loans
IPC	Charges for the use of intellectual property royalties
IPO	IPO subscriptions
IRP	Interest rate swap payments
IRW	Interest rate unwind payments
ISH	Income on investment funds share
ISL	Interest on securities more than a year
ISS	Interest on securities less than a year
ITS	Computer services
LAS	Leave salary
LDL	Debt instruments intragroup loans, deposits in the UAE
LDS	Debt instruments intragroup securities in the UAE
LEA	Leasing abroad
LEL	Leasing in the UAE
LIP	Loan interest payments
LLA	Loans – Drawings or Repayments on loans extended to nonresidents – Long-term
LLL	Loans – Drawings or Repayments on foreign loans extended to residents – Long-term
LNC	Loan charges
LND	Loan disbursements
MCR	Monetary Claim Reimbursements Medical Insurance or Auto Insurance etc.
MWI	Mobile wallet cash in
MWO	Mobile wallet cash out
MWP	Mobile wallet payments
OAT	Own account transfer
OTS	Other modes of transport
OVT	Overtime
PEN	Pension
PIN	Personal Investments
PIP	Profits on Islamic products
PMS	Professional and management consulting services
POR	Refunds or Reversals on IPO subscriptions
POS	POS Merchant Settlement
PPA	Purchase of real estate abroad from residents
PPL	Purchase of real estate in the UAE from non-residents
PRP	Profit rate swap payments
PRR	Profits or rents on real estate
PRS	Personal cultural audio visual and recreational services
PRW	Profit rate unwind payments
RDS	Research and development services
RFS	Repos on foreign securities
RLS	Repos on securities issued by residents
RNT	Rent payments
SAA	Salary advance
SAL	Salary
SCO	Construction
SLA	Loans – Drawings or Repayments on loans extended to nonresidents – Short-term
SLL	Loans – Drawings or Repayments on foreign loans extended to residents – Short-term
STR	Travel
STS	Sea transport
SVI	Stored value card cash-in
SVO	Stored value card cash-out
SVP	Stored value card payments
TCP	Trade credits and advances payable
TCR	Trade credits and advances receivable
TCS	Telecommunication services
TKT	Tickets
TOF	Transfer of funds between persons Normal and Juridical
TTS	Technical trade-related and other business services
UTL	Utility Bill Payments