Good things are happening in British business
Find out how some of our customers have evolved their businesses in innovative ways.
We have updated a number of test files and the supporting documentation.
Please download the revised test file to review the latest information.
Report formats | May 2014 update |
APACS |
|
APACS-v6/DOS |
|
Excel |
|
SWIFT MT940 |
|
Text (CSV) |
|
We have provided export test files for each of the different types and formats of report you can download from LloydsLink Online, as illustrated. Please note that the changes to statement narratives only affect the “Today’s statement” and “Yesterday’s statement” reports.
For each report type we have provided a zip file which contains test files for different groups of transactions:
Page number | Examples of transaction |
1 |
|
2 |
|
3 |
|
4 |
|
Each zip file also contains a detailed guide to explain which transaction narratives and codes are changing
If you do not need to make any changes to your systems, please email us at LloydsBankTestFileSupport@lloydsbanking.com to confirm that you will not be affected.
Please email us at LloydsBankTestFileSupport@lloydsbanking.com if you have any questions about running your test files, and we will respond as soon as possible.
A detailed guide is available to explain how the transaction narratives and codes are changing – click to view the appropriate guide:
Q1. What do you need to do if you don’t download statements?
You do not need to run a test file, but we recommend you see the detailed guide which shows what is changing to statement narratives on your account view: LloydsLink guide (PDF, 122KB)
Q2. How do you know if you need to run a test file?
If you import the transaction file you download from LloydsLink online or LloydsLink dial-up into another system (such as accounting or Treasury Management software) you may need to run a test file.
If you download and view the transaction file (e.g. in Excel) you may not need to run the test file.
Q3. How do you know which test file to download?
Select the test file which has the same file type (e.g. APACS, BAI, Excel) as the report you normally download. Please see the LloydsLink file download guide (PDF, 182KB) to help you select the right test file.
Note that most clients use the “Yesterday’s Statement” or “Historic Statement” reports rather than the intra-day reports to carry out reconciliations.
Q4. How are the transaction narratives going to change?
The format of the report file (e.g. the number of characters in each field, or the order of the fields) is not changing, but the content of some of the fields within the file may change. The “As-is/To-be” documents contained in the test files provide a full explanation. - see the “Supporting documents” section.
Transactions are downloaded as a string of characters. Each string is made up of a set of fields, which contain information such as the sort code, account number, amount, date, type of transaction and a transaction reference.
Below is an example of a transaction ‘character string’ (illustration only)
As is / To be | Sort code | Account number | Amount | Transaction code | Transaction reference | |
Branch Deposit |
As is | 30-17-15 | 123xxx78 | 100.00 | BGC | BANK GIRO CREDIT 500001 |
To be | 30-17-15 | 123xxx78 | 100.00 | CR | 500001 |
In this example, the changes to the transaction narrative are:
a. The code which describes the type of transaction changes (e.g. ‘BGC’ for a branch deposit changes to ‘CR’)
b. The position of the transaction reference changes within the ‘Transaction reference’ field (e.g. the reference starts from position 1 in the field, instead of starting from position 20)
Q5. What happens if you have problems loading the file or running a report?
a. Your system may only be able to run reports which use your own sort code and account number. In this case you will need to replace the dummy sort code and account number in the test file with your own sort code and account number.
b. Your system may only be able to run reports with your real opening and closing balance. In this case, replace the dummy balances in the test file with the correct opening and closing balances.
c. Your system may only be able to run reports with yesterday’s date. In this case, replace the dummy date in the test file with the correct date.
d. You may need to use ‘Notepad’ to edit the test file as some systems are sensitive to the file format used.
Q6. Will the payment files you upload/import be changing?
No - there are no changes to the payment files you upload.
Q7. What happens if you do not have a test environment?
Please review the “As-is/To-be” documents contained in the test files to determine if there are any issues that you may experience once the changes come into effect - see the “Supporting documents” section.
Q8. What is the difference between the SWIFT standard and the SWIFT enhanced report?
The SWIFT enhanced report provides a broader range of transaction codes (e.g. an Internal Transfer appears as ‘MSC’ on standard report and ‘ADV’ on enhanced report).