Common Switch Error Codes

When processing transactions, you may sometimes see error codes that look confusing. These codes are system-generated messages that explain what occurred during a transaction; whether it was successful, declined, delayed, or invalid.

This helps to quickly identify and resolve transaction issues without escalating every case.

Below are common transaction error codes and their simple explanations;

05 – Do Not Honor

This simply means that the transaction was declined by the receiving bank, often due to restrictions on the account or other internal policies.

06 – Dormant Account

The account that was meant to receive or send the funds has been inactive for a long period and is currently dormant.

07 – Invalid Account

This error occurs when the specified account number is invalid or does not exist on the receiving bank’s system.

08 – Account Name Mismatch

This occurs when the account name provided does not match the account number entered for the transaction.

09 – Request Processing in Progress

This indicates that the transaction is still being processed and without an outcome or response. Until a final response is given it remains pending and can be re-queried.

25 – Unable to Locate Record

The system was unable to find the transaction record associated with the reference provided. This usually occurs when one part of the transaction did not reach the system, but another part of the transaction is initiated. 

In such cases, the system responds with the error code 25, indicating that the record of the initial leg of the transaction could not be located.

26 – Duplicate Record

This error occurs when the system identifies that a similar transaction record already exists, indicating that the same transaction might have been submitted before, hence the code 26 response is given.

57 – Transaction Not Permitted to Sender

This occurs when the sender’s account type does not allow that kind of transaction. For example, some accounts (like fixed deposit or restricted accounts) may not be permitted to make transfers. 
 

61 – Transfer Limit Exceeded

This happens when the transaction amount goes beyond the sender’s daily or per-transaction transfer limit as set by the bank.

96 – System Malfunction

This is a general error indicating that something went wrong within the switch system, possibly due to downtime or processing failure causing transactions processed during that timeline to fail with RC 96

97 – Timeout Waiting for Response from Destination

This error means that the transaction request was successfully sent to the destination bank or institution, but no response was received within the expected time frame.