AMERICAN EXPRESS GLOBAL FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT GUIDE OCTOBER 2010

Transcription

1 AMERICAN EXPRESS GLOBAL FINANCIAL SETTLEMENT GUIDE OCTOBER 2010 GLOBAL MERCHANT SERVICES

2 Copyright American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. All rights reserved. This document contains sensitive, confidential and trade secret information; and no part of it shall be disclosed to third parties or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including without limitation information storage and retrieval systems, without the express prior written consent of American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.

3 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Document Clarification Request Use this process to notify us when content clarifications are required or suspected errors are found. Please send an with your question or comments to and provide the following information. Requester s Information: Date of request Name, title and address Company Company address Contact phone number Name of American Express representative/contact Specification title Specification publication date Page number Section number You may also send a copy of the document page in question. You will receive confirmation of your request in 3-5 business days. Changes, corrections and clarifications will be published in the next release. For questions on modifications to existing functionality, contact your American Express representative. October 22, 2010 POS i

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5 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Summary of Changes Table Section Description Initial Communication Cover Elimination of Version Number New Document Clarification Request Section 1, Introduction Sections 1.1 to 1.5 Section 2, File Submissions Overview Section Section 2, File Submissions Overview Section 2.3 Section 2, File Submissions Overview Section Section 3, Global Financial Settlement File Overview Section Section Section 4, Global Financial Settlement File Record Types Section 4, Global Financial Settlement File Record Types Section 4.1 Explains process to submit questions, request clarification, or identify suspected errors in the document New introduction to explain the use, organization and publication schedule of the GFSG and other related documents Updated language to clarify testing expectations Section moved from 5.0 to 2.3 Changed statement from American Express requires. to American Express strongly recommends Revised heading from Record of Charge to Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record Updated language Removed redundant language regarding information which may appear on a card member s statement Revised heading from Summary of Charge to Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record Updated language Clause revised to clarify the relation between Merchant ID number and currency Record Tables have been moved and are now included with Record layouts FILE_VERSION_NUMBER is now New New Revised existing language Moved existing content Revised existing language Revised existing language Revised existing language Moved existing content New October 22, 2010 POS iii

6 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Summary of Changes Table Section Description Initial Communication Section 4, Global Financial Settlement File Record Types Section 4.2 Section 5, Industry- Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records Section 5, Industry- Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records Section 5.1 Section 6, Non-Industry- Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records Section 7, Appendix POINT_OF_SERVICE_DATA_CODE has been updated to further clarify values Addition of Field 31, ELECTRONIC_COMMERCE_INDICATOR to enable American Express SafeKey SM functionality Addition of Field 32 RESERVED Updated verbiage and removed unused Addenda type and Format codes TAA Records have been placed in alphabetical order Record Tables have been moved and are now included with Record layouts Clarified use of Field 7, TICKET_NUMBER, in the Airline TAA for all transaction types. Updated verbiage and removed unused Addenda type and Format codes TAA Records have been placed in alphabetical order Record Tables have been moved and are now included with Record layouts Appendix has been expanded to include Service Establishment and Cardmember Number Validation information previously found in 4.0 Revised existing language New Revised existing language Moved existing content Revised existing language Revised existing language Moved existing content Moved existing content iv POS October 22, 2010

7 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction Overview Who Should Use This Guide Document Organization Summary of Changes Revision Mark Contents Publication Schedule Semi-Annual Publication Process Notice of Specification Changes Technical Bulletins Related Documents File Submissions Overview Project Implementation Steps Planning Development Testing and Certification of Optional & Required Fields Operations Financial Settlement Summary Global Financial Settlement File Global Financial Settlement File Requirements Quality Control Data Quality Control Data Entry Errors Invalid Cardmember Account Numbers Data Backup Requirements File Backup Source Document Retention Control Requirements Controls to Avoid Duplicate Records Controls to Uniquely Identify and Track Files October 22, 2010 POS v

8 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Table of Contents Suggestions to Retain Control Information Global Financial Settlement File Overview Global Financial Settlement File Record Types Transaction File Header (TFH) Record Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Record Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record Balancing and Reconciliation Examples of Global Financial Settlement File Record Sequences File without Optional TAD or Optional TAA Records File with Optional TAD, Required Location Detail TAA, and Optional Industry- or Non-Industry-Specific TAA Records File with Multiple Merchant ID/SE Numbers File with Multiple Currencies & Multiple Merchant ID/SE Numbers Global Financial Settlement File Record Types Transaction File Header (TFH) Record Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Record Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record Industry-Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records TAA Record for Airline Industry TAA Record for Auto Rental Industry TAA Record for Communication Services Industry TAA Record for Entertainment/Ticketing Industry TAA Record for Insurance Industry TAA Record for Lodging Industry TAA Record for Rail Industry vi POS October 22, 2010

9 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Table of Contents 5.8 TAA Record for Restaurant Industry TAA Record for Retail Industry TAA Record for Travel/Cruise Industry Non-Industry-Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records TAA Record for Corporate Purchasing Solutions Level TAA Record for Deferred Payment Plan TAA Record for EMV (Chip Card) TAA Record for Location Detail Appendix Validation Error Messages Error Code Ranges Error Messages In Numeric Order Error Messages By Record Type Transaction File Header (TFH) Record Error Messages Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record Error Messages Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record Error Messages Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record Error Messages Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record Error Messages TAA Record Error Messages Industry Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Record Error Messages Non-Industry Specific General File Validation Error/Return Messages Service Establishment & Cardmember Number Validation SE & Cardmember Number Validation Overview Account Number Range Validation Check Digit Verification SE Number Check Digit Computation (Modulus 9 Check) Cardmember Number Check Digit Computation (Modulus 10 Check) Revision Log October 22, 2010 POS vii

10 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Table of Contents Figures #1 Global Financial Settlement Service Implementation Steps... 7 #2 Global Financial Settlement Software Summary... 8 viii POS October 22, 2010

11 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Overview The Global Financial Settlement Guide (GFSG) contains programming information and specifications for American Express Financial Settlement. 1.2 Who Should Use This Guide The GFSG is written for merchants, authorized Third Party Processors, software vendors and third party programmers. In this guide, the terms merchant, Service Establishment or SE, and Card Acceptor are used interchangeably to refer to businesses that are approved to accept American Express and/or American Express Partners Cards as payment for goods and/or services. The term submitter refers to merchants, authorized Third Party Processors and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) that submit settlement files to American Express for payment. 1.3 Document Organization This section describes the organization of the manual, along with a list of sections and descriptions. It also describes the timing and communication process for updating information Summary of Changes The GFSG begins with a Summary of Changes that describes revisions. The summary includes the following: The section where revision occurred A brief description of the revision The initial publication date of the revision Revision Mark Throughout this manual, revised areas are indicated by a revision mark. This mark appears in this page s margin, next to where a change has occurred. This is an example of a revision mark: October 22, 2010 POS

12 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Contents The manual consists of the following sections: 1.0 Introduction Provides an overview of this guide, its contents, layout and publication schedule. 2.0 File Submissions Overview Contains an overview of the financial settlement process and summarizes project implementation steps. 3.0 Global Financial Settlement File Overview 4.0 Global Financial Settlement File Record Types 5.0 Industry-Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records Contains an overview of the Global Financial Settlement File and its associated records, including examples of typical record sequences for the various record types Contains the following subsections, which detail requirements for basic record types that may be used in the Global Financial Settlement File. Addenda records are explained in greater detail in Sections 5.0 & 6.0: 4.1 Transaction File Header (TFH) Record 4.2 Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record 4.3 Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record 4.4 Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Record 4.5 Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record 4.6 Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record Contains the following subsections, which detail requirements for Industry-Specific TAA Records that may be used the Global Financial Settlement File: 5.1 TAA Record for Airline Industry 5.3 TAA Record for Communication Services Industry 5.4 TAA Record for Entertainment/Ticketing Industry 5.5 TAA Record for Insurance Industry 5.6 TAA Record for Lodging Industry 5.7 TAA Record for Rail Industry 5.8 TAA Record for Restaurant Industry 5.9 TAA Record for Retail Industry 5.10 TAA Record for Travel/Cruise Industry 2 POS October 22, 2010

13 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Contents (Continued) 6.0 Non-Industry-Specific Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records Contains the following subsections, which detail requirements for Non-Industry-Specific TAA Records that may be used the Global Financial Settlement File: 6.1 TAA Record for Corporate Purchasing Solutions Level TAA Record for Deferred Payment Plan 6.3 TAA Record for EMV (Chip Card) 6.4 TAA Record for Location Detail 7.0 Appendix Contains the following subsections: 7.1 Validation Error Messages 7.2 Service Establishment & Cardmember Number Validation 8.0 Revision Log Lists the changes made in each document revision. October 22, 2010 POS

14 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential 1.4 Publication Schedule This section outlines how changes to Technical Specifications are communicated Semi-Annual Publication Process The American Express Network publishes Technical Specifications twice each year, in April and October. Specification changes, which will require technical changes to implement or support, as well as any certification requirements and/or compliance dates, will be communicated six months prior to publication in a Notice of Specification Changes (NOSC). Technical Bulletins may also be used to communicate changes occurring outside of the April and October publication schedule Notice of Specification Changes Notice of Specification Changes are also published twice each year, in April and October. In each edition, changes to existing, or the introduction of new features and functionality will be announced. These changes will be incorporated into the next editions of the Technical Specifications. Changes published in the April Notice of Specification Changes will be incorporated into the October editions of the Technical Specifications. Changes published in the October Notice of Specification Changes will be incorporated into the April editions of the Technical Specifications Technical Bulletins American Express will publish any changes occurring outside of the April and October publication schedule in Technical Bulletins. Technical Bulletins will generally contain the same level of detail found in the Notice of Specification Changes, including a description of the change, and the business and technical impacts of the change to customers. Technical Bulletins may also communicate changes, corrections, and clarifications announced in previous Technical Specifications. Information communicated in Technical Bulletins will be incorporated into the next editions of the Technical Specifications. 4 POS October 22, 2010

15 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide 1.5 Related Documents American Express Global Credit Authorization Guide American Express Global Financial Settlement Codes & Information Guide American Express Global Settlement File Notification Specification Card Acceptance & Processing Network Communications Guide for USA & Canada October 22, 2010 POS

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17 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide 2.0 File Submissions Overview This section summarizes project implementation steps and contains an overview of the financial settlement process. 2.1 Project Implementation Steps Figure 1 summarizes the major Global Financial Settlement Service implementation steps for a new submitter. These steps are described on the following pages. Planning Technical Planning Select Transmission Method Establish Project Schedule Development Global Financial Settlement File Data Editing Routines Balancing/Reconciliation Testing Test File American Express Certification Operations Routine Production Transmission Figure 1 Global Financial Settlement Service Implementation Steps Planning For new submitters, your first contact will be with an American Express representative. This individual will coordinate the project at American Express and assist you in managing the development and testing of your Global Financial Settlement Service software. Please note your representative s contact information. This individual is your primary American Express contact until testing is completed and production operations begin. Your first task is to choose the American Express-supported, electronic transmission method for transferring settlement data. In addition, during your company representatives initial contacts with American Express, service options are selected and a project schedule is established. October 22, 2010 POS

18 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Development Your primary Global Financial Settlement Service development task is to code software incorporating the following major features (see Figure 2): Global Financial Settlement File See requirements beginning on page 19. Merchant / Service Establishment Service Establishment (SE) and Cardmember Number Validation See page 343. Balancing and Reconciliation See Introduction on page 7 and the Balancing and Reconciliation overview on page 22. After you choose a transmission option, you need to establish communications protocol procedures using American Express-supplied communications guide(s), prior to development of your Global Financial Settlement software. Your American Express representative can assist you in meeting American Express file layout specifications. The final result of these efforts will be your generation of a test Global Financial Settlement File that will be transmitted to American Express for certification. Global Financial Settlement Service Software Global Financial Settlement File SE & Cardmember Number Validation Balancing & Reconciliation Transmission Program American Express Accounts Payable System Figure 2 Global Financial Settlement Software Summary 8 POS October 22, 2010

19 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Testing and Certification of Optional & Required Fields American Express performs a series of validation checks on test files to ensure proper adherence to all format and record requirements. Your American Express representative will assist you throughout the certification process. Upon completion of your software development, contact American Express to submit a test file. Your test file will be validated for proper structure and format. Test files, which do not meet American Express requirements, will generate errors that will be reported for corrective action. Once the errors have been corrected, a revised test file will need to be submitted for validation. After successful certification of test files, instructions will be provided for submitting production settlement files. Specific details on creating and submitting test files and other certification procedures will be provided during the initial planning phase of the project. During certification, authorized Third Party Processors and Vendors are required to demonstrate the ability to populate and transmit appropriate and meaningful information in some optional fields, as well as all required fields. Details for specific optional fields that must be passed during certification are provided in this document Operations After you have been notified by American Express that you are approved for production processing, you may begin routine transmission of Global Financial Settlement Files to American Express. These files are sent according to mutually agreed upon production schedules. Once you start transmitting production files, you will be provided with contact information for ongoing production support. October 22, 2010 POS

20 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential 2.2 Financial Settlement Summary Global Financial Settlement Services are used to solicit payment for all of your approved American Express and/or American Express Partners charges. The following subsections explain the various record types and content included in the Global Financial Settlement file Global Financial Settlement File After balancing and reconciling debit and credit transactions, the submitter creates a Global Financial Settlement File that meets the requirements detailed in this specification (see overview on page 19). This format is used by submitters to electronically transmit charges to American Express for payment. The Global Financial Settlement File must conform to American Express standards. To maintain the highest quality of customer service and comply with the spirit and letter of applicable regulations, submitters that transmit charges to American Express via the Global Financial Settlement File must comply with the requirements in this specification. The Global Financial Settlement File must be forwarded to American Express using an American Express supported electronic transmission method. Upon receipt and acceptance of a valid Global Financial Settlement File, American Express processes each transaction for Cardmember billing and merchant payment. 10 POS October 22, 2010

21 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Global Financial Settlement File Requirements This section contains detailed specifications and descriptions for generating a Global Financial Settlement File. General Field Design Guidelines Unless otherwise specified: All files must be transmitted in ASCII. All alphanumeric fields must be upper case, left justified and character space filled. All numeric fields must be right justified, unsigned and zero filled. The following standard and special characters may be used in fields where their use is appropriate; e.g., phone number, address, URL, address, etc. Char Name 0 Number zero 1 Number one 2 Number two 3 Number three 4 Number four 5 Number five 6 Number six 7 Number seven 8 Number eight 9 Number nine a A Lower- and upper-case letter b B Lower- and upper-case letter c C Lower- and upper-case letter d D Lower- and upper-case letter e E Lower- and upper-case letter f F Lower- and upper-case letter g G Lower- and upper-case letter h H Lower- and upper-case letter i I Lower- and upper-case letter j J Lower- and upper-case letter k K Lower- and upper-case letter l L Lower- and upper-case letter m M Lower- and upper-case letter n N Lower- and upper-case letter o O Lower- and upper-case letter p P Lower- and upper-case letter q Q Lower- and upper-case letter r R Lower- and upper-case letter s S Lower- and upper-case letter t T Lower- and upper-case letter u U Lower- and upper-case letter v V Lower- and upper-case letter Char Name w W Lower- and upper-case letter x X Lower- and upper-case letter y Y Lower- and upper-case letter z Z Lower- and upper-case letter & Ampersand < > Angle brackets, greater than or less than ' Apostrophe (typed character) * At sign \ Backslash { } Braces [ ] Brackets Cent sign $ Dollar sign! Exclamation point - Hyphen, minus sign # Number, pound (weight) ( ) Parentheses, opening or closing % Percent. Period, decimal point, dot + Plus? Question mark / Slash mark (virgule) _ Underscore á Lower-case a with acute accent à Lower-case a with grave accent å Lower-case a with diacritic accent ä Lower-case a with dieresis accent â Lower-case a with circumflex accent ç Lower-case c with diacritic cedilla é Lower-case e with acute accent Char Name ê Lower-case e with circumflex accent è Lower-case e with grave accent ë Lower-case e with dieresis accent í Lower-case i with acute accent ì Lower-case i with grave accent î Lower-case i with circumflex accent ï Lower-case i with dieresis accent ñ Lower-case n with tilde accent ó Lower-case o with acute accent ô Lower-case o with circumflex accent ò Lower-case o with grave accent ö Lower-case o with dieresis accent ú Lower-case u with acute accent û Lower-case u with circumflex accent ü Lower-case u with dieresis accent ù Lower-case u with grave accent Á Upper-case A with acute accent Å Upper-case A with diacritic accent Ä Upper-case A with dieresis accent ß es-zett or scharfes S (sharp s) É Upper-case E with acute accent Ê Upper-case E with circumflex accent È Upper-case E with grave accent Í Upper-case I with acute accent Î Upper-case I with circumflex accent Ñ Upper-case N with tilde accent Ó Upper-case O with acute accent Ô Upper-case O with circumflex accent Ö Upper-case U with dieresis accent Ú Upper-case U with acute accent Û Upper-case U with circumflex accent October 22, 2010 POS

22 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement File Requirements (Continued) Required and Optional Fields All fields specified as required must be filled with the appropriate alphanumeric or numeric information as indicated. All fields specified as not required should be filled with the appropriate information if it is available from the original charge/sales slip or if it can be obtained from other media supporting the transaction. If the information is not available, unless otherwise specified, alphanumeric fields should be character space filled and numeric fields should be zero filled. Reserved fields should be filled with character spaces or zeros, as defined for each field. Variable Length Records & Files If desired, variable length records may be used to reduce overall file size. Variable length records are identical to fixed length records except the final, character-space-filled RESERVED field at the end of each record is omitted and replaced with the end-of-record delimiter, ASCII line feed (LF) character 0A (hexadecimal). For more information on using variable length records and files, please contact your American Express representative. 12 POS October 22, 2010

23 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Notification Reporting Unless otherwise specified by the submitter, American Express will return a File Acknowledgement Message to confirm that a submitter s Financial Settlement File was received. Similarly, American Express will also generate a File Confirmation Report that contains Financial Settlement File status and process results. The Acknowledgement Message and the Confirmation Report are the primary communication methods used to convey file status. The Acknowledgement Message is available in two formats: or formatted.txt file. The Acknowledgment Message contains the following: Submission File Date. Reference Number. Sequence Number. File Tracking Number. After the file is processed, American Express will send a Confirmation Report, which is available in two formats: Raw data or formatted.txt file. The Confirmation Report contains the following: Date and time Confirmation Report file was created. File Tracking Number. Date and time file was created by submitter. Date and time file was received by American Express. Financial Settlement File status. Submitter ID and name. Submitter File Reference Number. Total number of debits and debit hash total amount. Total number of credits and credit hash total amount. Total number of all transactions, regardless of transaction type (debit or credit). Hash total amount of all transactions, regardless of transaction type (debit or credit). Details on records that were rejected. Details on records that were accepted, but contained errors. Rejected records from the originating Global Financial Settlement File (raw data only). If Notification Reporting is disabled, American Express will contact the submitter when an entire file is rejected. Otherwise, no notification is provided for rejected transactions and/or batches. For more information on Notification Reporting, refer to the Global Settlement File Notification Specification at October 22, 2010 POS

24 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential 2.3 Quality Control This section describes various quality control measures. These operational issues are divided into the following subsections: Data Quality Control Provides guidelines to prevent and correct data errors, and invalid Cardmember account numbers Data Backup Requirements Summarizes American Express file backup and source document stipulations Control Requirements Describes methods used to prevent duplication of settlement records and files Data Quality Control This section explains how to prevent and correct data problems, including the following: Data Entry Errors Invalid Cardmember Account Numbers Data Entry Errors American Express merchants that use Global Financial Settlement Services are responsible for delivering correct and complete transaction information to American Express. The crucial data items in a transaction are: Service Establishment (SE) Number Transaction Date Transaction Amount Primary Account Number American Express may periodically request that you send copies of your source documents (debit and/or credit slips from actual transactions) to verify the accuracy and completeness of your files. 14 POS October 22, 2010

25 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Invalid Cardmember Account Numbers An invalid Cardmember account number is one that fails either of the following edit routines that must be included in your Global Financial Settlement software: Account Number Range Validation Cardmember Number Check Digit Computation (Modulus 10 Check) For more information, see pages 343 and 347, respectively Data Backup Requirements This section contains guidelines for backing up Global Financial Settlement data to protect records and files from unforeseen delivery or processing problems. American Express requirements include the following: File Backup Source Document Retention File Backup American Express recommends that merchants that use Global Financial Settlement Services maintain electronic or magnetic backups of their Financial Settlement Files for at least 30 days beyond receipt of payment from American Express, or as specified by contractual agreement. This ensures that a copy of a Settlement File can be resubmitted for payment, if the original file is lost or damaged Source Document Retention In addition to keeping a backup of the electronic file, merchants should retain all data and source documentation for each Global Financial Settlement File. These items serve as a second level backup, in case the original file and the backup copy are both lost or destroyed. Source documents also enable American Express to research inquiries received from Cardmembers. Periodic data quality audits can also be conducted, if original source documentation is retained. American Express merchants using Global Financial Settlement Services are required to retain source documents for a two-year period from the date the Financial Settlement File was delivered to American Express, or as specified by contractual agreement. October 22, 2010 POS

26 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Control Requirements Implementation of control requirements protects the Global Financial Settlement File from accidental duplication of records and files Controls to Avoid Duplicate Records American Express requires merchants that use Global Financial Settlement Services to generate proper audit trails and controls to validate item/record counts and transaction value totals. These controls are crucial for the prevention of duplicate records within a file. To support this process, American Express provides confirmation that a submitter s transactions, batches or files were received and processed. For more information, see page 13 or see the Global Settlement File Notification Specification. Submitters must not resubmit files for which confirmation has not been received, nor append subject transactions (i.e., transactions that have not yet been confirmed as received) to other file submissions, unless specifically directed to do so by an American Express representative Controls to Uniquely Identify and Track Files American Express strongly recommends that the SUBMITTER_FILE_REFERENCE_NUMBER be unique for each financial settlement file submitted by the merchant, because the value in this field is used as a file identification- and tracking-cross-reference to the corresponding File Validation Report. This value, in combination with data in Transaction File Header (TFH) and Transaction File Summary (TFS) fields, such as the SUBMITTER_ID and HASH_TOTAL_DEBIT_ AMOUNT, provides a control that uniquely identifies each file submitted during a year. For more information on these fields, see details on the TFH and TFS Records, beginning on pages 27 and 95, respectively. Below are the practices American Express recommends to uniquely identify files: For the first Global Financial Settlement File delivered to American Express, we suggest that you set the SUBMITTER_FILE_REFERENCE_NUMBER in the TFH Record to a value that can be incremented by 1. Then, in each subsequent file, this entry should be increased by 1 to ensure that no two files submitted in the same year have the same Submitter File Reference Number. In addition to the SUBMITTER_FILE_REFERENCE_NUMBER, the SUBMITTER_FILE_ SEQUENCE_NUMBER may be used to sequentially number files. During certification, submitters may indicate if they wish to use this option, after which time, this conditional field becomes required. For details on using a merchant-assigned Submitter File Sequence Number, see page 31. Please note that the SUBMITTER_FILE_REFERENCE_NUMBER is always required, while the SUBMITTER_FILE_SEQUENCE_NUMBER is only required if its use is specified during certification. 16 POS October 22, 2010

27 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Suggestions to Retain Control Information Retain the following data (on paper or electronically) for research and control purposes: SUBMITTER_FILE_REFERENCE_NUMBER SUBMITTER_FILE_SEQUENCE_NUMBER (if certified to use) SUBMITTER_ID FILE_CREATION_DATE HASH_TOTAL_AMOUNT File Record Count American Express status of the file FILE_TRACKING_NUMBER from Global Settlement File Confirmation Report * * For details, see American Express Global Settlement File Notification Specification. October 22, 2010 POS

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29 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide 3.0 Global Financial Settlement File Overview This section contains an overview of the Global Financial Settlement File structure and its associated records. The illustrations in this section show only financial data records, and specifically omit any file transmission records and/or character strings associated with the underlying communications protocol(s). Each record must be identified with a sequential Record Number to allow American Express to monitor the integrity and continuity of data in the file. For example, the Transaction File Header (TFH) Record is always assigned the value ; and each subsequent record in the file must be incremented to a value 1 more than the RECORD_NUMBER entry in the preceding record. The number of records per file must not exceed 9,999,999 ( ). Note: The type, severity and quantity of errors in file records and/or data determine whether the entire file, one or more batches or individual transactions are rejected and returned to the submitter for corrective action. The method and format of the error report for rejected data will be determined during certification. The submitter is responsible for correcting and resubmitting the rejected items to American Express for Cardmember billing and merchant payment. October 22, 2010 POS

30 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential 3.1 Global Financial Settlement File Record Types Transaction File Header (TFH) Record The Transaction File Header (TFH) Record is always the first data record in the file and serves as the highest level of control within a file. Each Global Financial Settlement File can have only one TFH Record, which contains information such as date, time and file identification fields that uniquely identify the file Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record The Record of Charge (ROC) is a term American Express has historically used to represent the basic receipt or invoice associated with each debit or credit transaction. The term ROC will now be referred to as the Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record. The TAB contains information related to a single Cardmember transaction such as the Cardmember s account number (Primary Account Number), the merchant s Service Establishment (SE) Number, also known as the Merchant ID, the transaction amount, and other descriptive data related to the transaction. Some of this information may appear on the Cardmember s billing statement. All files must contain at least one TAB record in order to avoid being rejected back to the submitter. In the Global Financial Settlement File, transaction data is submitted to American Express in the required Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record, and optional Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record, and Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record The optional Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) Record contains Additional Amount fields that are used to report a breakdown of charges (e.g., taxes, gratuities, fees, adjustments, etc.) that are subtotals to (and must be included in) the TRANSACTION_AMOUNT field in the corresponding Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) Record. This information may appear on the descriptive bill on the Cardmember s statement, or be used to resolve billing inquiries and disputes. TAD Record data is used in conjunction with information in associated Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) and Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records to fully describe each transaction. Only one TAD can be submitted for each TAB. For proper sequence of file records, see page POS October 22, 2010

31 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Record The Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Record contains additional detailed information (e.g., item description, quantity and unit cost), which may become part of the descriptive bill on the Cardmember s statement or be used to resolve billing inquiries and disputes. With the exception of the Location Detail TAA, which is required for all submitters (Merchants, Processors and Vendors) on all transactions, the remaining industry- and non-industry-specific TAA Records are optional, unless otherwise specified by contractual agreement. However, please note that only one industry-specific TAA (e.g., Retail, Lodging, Entertainment/Ticketing, Auto Rental, Insurance, Airline, Rail, Travel/Cruise and Communication Services) or one CPS * TAA may be submitted with each TAB. See additional information on page 257. For proper sequence of file records, see pages Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record The Summary of Charge (SOC) is a term American Express has historically used to summarize the corresponding Records of Charge (ROCs) included in a file. The term SOC will now be referred to as the Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Record. Submitters must separate the settlement file s TAB Records into batches, which must be followed by a TBT Record. Each Merchant ID Number is assigned one currency in which it is allowed to submit transactions. Merchants, authorized Third Party Processors and software vendors must be certified for all currencies in which they plan to submit settlement data. Submitters that support merchants in multiple countries must certify prior to using a particular currency code. A unique Merchant ID must be assigned to the submitter for each currency it supports. For more information on submitting multiple currencies and/or to schedule certification, please contact your American Express representative. TBT Records must be batched by currency, and by Merchant ID/SE Number. The TBT Record contains information such as Merchant ID/SE Number, TBT creation date, batch totals and currency applicable to all Transaction Advice Basic (TAB), Transaction Advice Detail (TAD) and Transaction Advice Addendum (TAA) Records in a batch. In the Global Financial Settlement File, the TBT serves as a second level of control within a file and must follow the last TAB, TAD or TAA Record in a batch. American Express Financial Settlement policy requires that the TBT balance with its corresponding TABs. For proper sequence of file records, see pages * CPS = Corporate Purchasing Solutions Formerly, American Express Corporate Purchasing Card (CPC). October 22, 2010 POS

32 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record The Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record is always the last data record in the Global Financial Settlement File. Each file has only one TFS Record, which contains the following control information: Total number of debit records in the file. Hash total of all debit amounts in the file Total number of credit records in the file. Hash total of all credit amounts in the file Hash total of transaction amounts in all records in the file (debits and credits, combined) Balancing and Reconciliation American Express requires that the Transaction Advice Basic (TAB) amounts in your file balance with the totals in the Transaction Batch Trailer (TBT) Records and Transaction File Summary (TFS) Record. American Express cannot accept unbalanced Global Financial Settlement Files and may reject any that are received. Your software must incorporate American Express approved balancing and reconciliation procedures. If you have questions on implementing balancing and reconciliation procedures, please contact your American Express representative. 22 POS October 22, 2010

33 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide 3.2 Examples of Global Financial Settlement File Record Sequences File without Optional TAD or Optional TAA Records All TABs in the file are in the same currency. All TABs in file have the same Merchant ID/SE Number. TFH Record TFH Record must be the first record in the file. TAB Record TAB Record without optional TAD or optional TAAs. TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. TAB Record TAB Record without optional TAD or optional TAAs. TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. TAB Record TAB Record without optional TAD or optional TAAs. TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. TBT Record TBT Record must follow last Location Detail TAA in batch. TFS Record TFS Record must be the last record in the file. Note: If a merchant or authorized Third Party Processor s system creates multiple batches between submissions, submitters need not consolidate all records into a single batch. Multiple batches for a single Merchant ID/SE Number may be submitted in one file, provided a TBT Record follows the last TAB Record in each batch. October 22, 2010 POS

34 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential File with Optional TAD, Required Location Detail TAA, and Optional Industry- or Non-Industry-Specific TAA Records All TABs in the file are in the same currency. All TABs in file have the same Merchant ID/SE Number. Location Detail TAA is required for all submitters (Merchants, Processors and Vendors) on all transactions. Remaining industry- and non-industry-specific TAA Records are optional, unless otherwise specified by contractual agreement. Only one industry-specific TAA (e.g., Retail, Lodging, Entertainment/Ticketing, Auto Rental, Insurance, Airline, Rail, Travel/Cruise and Communication Services) or one CPS * TAA may be submitted with each TAB. See additional information on page 257. TFH Record TFH must be the first record in the file TAB Record TAB with required Location Detail TAA, but without optional TAD, or optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAAs. TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. TAB Record TAB with optional TAD and required Location Detail TAA. TAD Record Optional TAD follows corresponding TAB. Only one TAD allowed for each TAB. TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD, if TAD is used. TAB Record TAB with optional industry- or non-industry-specific TAAs and required Location Detail TAA. TAA Record Optional industry- or non-industry-specific TAA (see details on previous page). TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional industry- or non-industry-specific TAA (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB with optional TAD, optional industry- or non-industry-specific TAA, and required Location Detail TAA. TAD Record Optional TAD Record follows corresponding TAB. Only one TAD allowed for each TAB. TAA Record Optional industry- or non-industry-specific TAA follows optional TAD, if TAD is used. TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional industry- or non-industry-specific TAA (see details on previous page). TBT Record TBT must follow last Location Detail TAA in batch. TFS Record TFS must be the last record in the file. * CPS = Corporate Purchasing Solutions Formerly, American Express Corporate Purchasing Card (CPC). 24 POS October 22, 2010

35 American Express Proprietary & Confidential Global Financial Settlement Guide File with Multiple Merchant ID/SE Numbers All TABs must be batched by Merchant ID/SE Number. All TABs in each batch must be in the same currency. TFH Record TFH Record must be the first record in the file TAB Record TAB Record with Merchant ID/SE Number A TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Merchant ID/SE Number A TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Merchant ID/SE Number A TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TBT Record TBT Record must follow last Location Detail TAA in batch. TAB Record TAB Record with Merchant ID/SE Number B TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Merchant ID/SE Number B TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Merchant ID/SE Number B TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TBT Record TBT Record must follow last Location Detail TAA in batch. TFS Record TFS Record must be the last record in the file October 22, 2010 POS

36 Global Financial Settlement Guide American Express Proprietary & Confidential File with Multiple Currencies & Multiple Merchant ID/SE Numbers All TABs must be batched by currency and Merchant ID/SE Number Each Merchant ID/ SE Number can submit transactions in only one currency. A merchant that intends to submit multiple currencies must request one SE Number for each submission currency. All TABs in each batch must be in the same currency The example below applies both to files containing TABs from different merchants submitting in different currencies, and to files from a single merchant that submits TABs in multiple currencies, using separate merchant IDs for each currency. For information on currencies approved for authorization and settlement, see Global Financial Settlement Codes & Information Guide. TFH Record TFH Record must be the first record in the file TAB Record TAB Record with Currency A and Merchant ID/ SE Number A TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Currency A and Merchant ID/ SE Number A TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Currency A and Merchant ID/ SE Number A TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TBT Record TBT Record must follow last Location Detail TAA in batch. TAB Record TAB Record with Currency B and Merchant ID/ SE Number B TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Currency B and Merchant ID/ SE Number B TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TAB Record TAB Record with Currency B and Merchant ID/ SE Number B TAA Record Location Detail TAA, required for each TAB. Follows optional TAD and optional industry- or nonindustry-specific TAA, depending on which are used (see details on previous page). TBT Record TBT Record must follow last Location Detail TAA in batch. TFS Record TFS Record must be the last record in the file 26 POS October 22, 2010