Author : Andrew Marshall

ISO8583 Summary

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Copyright © 1997 Andrew Marshall

This is NOT the complete standard. You must obtain this from ISO. This is a summary that I use when teaching financial system messaging, and am asked for on a frequent basis.

There are many different implementations of ISO8583, any many local variations. Fields applicable to the ISO standard are identified as 'True' in the standard column.

Message types

ISO8583 message number	Description
0100	Authorisation request
0101	Authorisation request repeat
0102	Authorisation completion confirmation
0103	Authorisation completion confirmation repeat
0110	Authorisation request response
0112	Authorisation completion response
0120	Authorisation advice
0121	Authorisation advice repeat
0122	Authorisation advice completion confirmation
0123	Authorisation advice completion confirmation rpt
0130	Authorisation advice response
0132	Authorisation advice completion response
0200	Financial Transaction request
0201	Financial Transaction request repeat
0202	Financial transaction completion confirmation
0203	Financial transaction completion confirmation rpt
0210	Financial transaction request response
0212	Financial transaction completion response
0220	Financial transaction advice
0221	Financial transaction advice repeat
0222	Financial transaction advice completion confirmati
0223	Financial txn advice completion confirmation rpt
0230	Financial txn advice response
0232	Financial txn advice completion response
0300	Acquirer file update request
0302	Card issuer file update request
0310	Acquirer file update request response
0312	Card issuer file update request response
0320	Acquirer file update advice
0322	Card issuer file update advice
0330	Acquirer file update advice response
0332	Card issuer file update advice response
0400	Acquirer reversal request
0401	Acquirer reversal request response
0402	Card issuer reversal request
0403	Card issuer reversal request repeat
0410	Acquirer reversal request response
0412	Card issuer reversal request response
0420	Acquirer reversal advice
0421	Acquirer reversal advice repeat
0422	Card issuer reversal advice
0423	Card issuer reversal advice repeat
0430	Acquirer reversal advice response
0432	Card issuer reversal advice response
0500	Acquirer reconciliation request
0501	Acquirer reconciliation request repeat
0502	Card issuer reconciliation request
0503	Card issuer reconciliation request repeat
0510	Acquirer reconcilaition request response
0512	Card issuer reconciliation request response
0520	Acquirer reconciliation advice
0521	Acquirer reconciliation advice repeat
0522	Card issuer reconciliation advice
0523	Card issuer reconciliation advice repeat
0530	Acquirer reconciliation advice response
0532	Card issuer reconciliation advice response
0600	Administrative request
0601	Administrative request repeat
0610	Administrative request response
0620	Administrative advice
0621	Administrative advice repeat
0630	Administrative advice response
0800	Network management request
0801	Network management request repeat
0810	Network management request response
0820	Network management advice
0821	Network management advice repeat
0830	Network management advice response

Bit position values

ISO BIT Num	Field Name	Data-type	Length	Format	Full description	ISO8583 (1987) standard
1	Bit Map Extended	h	16		Secondary bit map indicating the presence or absence of bits in range 65-128 in the message being transmitted.	TRUE
2	Primary account number (PAN)	n	19	LLVAR	Customer PAN, used to route messages.	TRUE
3	Precessing code	n	6		Define the transaction type 3x2 digit fields. 1&2=type of trans, 3&4=type of account, 5&6=to account (zeroes)	TRUE
4	Amount, transaction	n	12		Transaction amount in (lowest unit local currency) at the acquirer.	TRUE
5	Amount, Settlement	n	12			TRUE
6	Amount, cardholder billing	n	12		Amount in (lowest unit local currency) of amount to be debited from the account held by the issuer.	TRUE
7	Transmission date & time	n	10	mmddhhmmss	Message transmission date and time in GMT. Switch completes this field.	TRUE
8	Amount, Cardholder billing fee	n	8			TRUE
9	Conversion rate, Settlement	n	8			TRUE
10	Conversion rate, cardholder billing	n	8		Conversion rate applied to forex txn amount. format ABBBBBBB where A is the decimal point position from the right and B is the conversion factor which when multiplied by field 4 gives field 6.	TRUE
11	Systems trace audit number	n	6		Sequence number assigned by message originator. Stays Unchanged through txn life.	TRUE
12	Time, Local transaction	n	6	hhmmss	Time of the local transaction	TRUE
13	Date, Local transaction	n	4	mmdd	Date of the local transaction	TRUE
14	Date, Expiration	n	4	yymm	Card expiration date	TRUE
15	Date, Settlement	n	4	mmdd	Date of settlement	TRUE
16	Date, conversion	n	4	mmdd		TRUE
17	Date, capture	n	4	mmdd		TRUE
18	Merchant type	n	4		Category code of merchant acquirer. Auth transactions only.	TRUE
19	Acquiring institution country code	n	3		Country code of acquiring institution	TRUE
20	PAN Extended, country code	n	3			TRUE
21	Forwarding institution. country code	n	3			TRUE
22	Point of service entry mode	n	3		PIN/PAN entry mode. Format PPN where PP=Pos entry mode and N=PIN entry mode.	TRUE
23	Application PAN number	n	3		Identifies and differentiates cards with the same PAN	TRUE
24	Network International identifier	n	3			TRUE
25	Point of service condition code	n	2		Condition under which the transaction takes place at POS. Various values.	TRUE
26	Point of service capture code	n	2		Maximum number of PIN digits supported.	TRUE
27	Authorising identification response length	n	1			TRUE
28	Amount, transaction fee	n	8			TRUE
29	Amount. settlement fee	n	8			TRUE
30	Amount, transaction processing fee	n	8			TRUE
31	Amount, settlement processing fee	n	8			TRUE
32	Acquiring institution identification code	n	11	LLVAR	Code identifying the acquirer	TRUE
33	Forwarding institution identofication code	n	11	LLVAR		TRUE
34	Primary account number, extended	n	28	LLVAR		TRUE
35	Track 2 data	z	37	LLVAR	Information encoded on track 2 of the magstripe card	TRUE
36	Track 3 data	n	104	LLLVAR		TRUE
37	Retrieval reference number	an	12		Data for matching original txn Julian date+term sequence	TRUE
38	Authorisation identification response	an	6		Authorisation ID assigned by authorising institution	TRUE
39	Response code	an	2		Disposition of message: Approved, incorrect PIN etc etc)	TRUE
40	Service restriction code	an	3			TRUE
41	Card acceptor terminal identification	ans	8		Unique code identifying the terminal at the card acceptor location.	TRUE
42	Card acceptor identification code	ans	15		Code identifying the card acceptor.	TRUE
43	Card acceptor name/location	ans	40		Full terminal address (1-23 address 24-36 City 37-38 State 39-40 Country)	TRUE
44	Additional response data	an	25	LLVAR	Used for POS referrals, format errors, or VISA acquired auth responses.	TRUE
45	Track 1 Data	an	76	LLVAR		TRUE
46	Additional data - ISO	an	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
47	Additional data - National	an	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
48	Additional data - Private	an	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
49	Currency code, transaction	a	3		Code (ISO?) of the local currency of the acquirer.	TRUE
50	Currency code, settlement	an	3			TRUE
51	Currency code, cardholder billing	a	3		Code (ISO?) of the currency used for cardholder billing.	TRUE
52	Personal Identification number data	h	16		Encrypted PIN block	TRUE
53	Security related control information	n	18			TRUE
54	Additional amounts	an	120		Mandatory for txn response. Contains codes for account, amount and currency types and amounts.	TRUE
55	Reserved ISO	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
56	Reserved ISO	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
57	Reserved National	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
58	Reserved National	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
59	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
60	Advice/reason code (private reserved)	an	7	LVAR	ICC reason for reveral or advice.	TRUE
61	Reserved Private	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
62	Reserved Private	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
63	Reserved Private	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
64	Message authentication code (MAC)	h	16		MAC check code	TRUE
65	Bit map, tertiary	h	16		Tertiary bit map indicating the presence or absence of bits in positions 129-192 in the message being transmitted.	TRUE
66	Settlement code	n	1			TRUE
67	Extended payment code	n	2			TRUE
68	Receiving institution country code	n	3			TRUE
69	Settlement institution county code	n	3			TRUE
70	Network management Information code	n	3		Network processing info. Various 3digit codes for sign on and off, keychange, cutover, handshake etc	TRUE
71	Message number	n	4			TRUE
72	Message number, last	n	4			TRUE
73	Date, Action	n	6	yymmdd		TRUE
74	Credits, number	n	10			TRUE
75	Credits, reversal number	n	10			TRUE
76	Debits, number	n	10			TRUE
77	Debits, reversal number	n	10			TRUE
78	Transfer number	n	10			TRUE
79	Transfer, reversal number	n	10			TRUE
80	Inquiries number	n	10			TRUE
81	Authorisations, number	n	10			TRUE
82	Credits, processsing fee amount	n	12			TRUE
83	Credits, transaction fee amount	n	12			TRUE
84	Debits, processing fee amount	n	12			TRUE
85	Debits, transaction fee amount	n	12			TRUE
86	Credits, amount	n	15			TRUE
87	Credits, reversal amount	n	15			TRUE
88	Debits, amount	n	15			TRUE
89	Debits, reversal amount	n	15			TRUE
90	Original data elements	n	42		Data elements in a reversal identifying the original txn. These elements are formatted specifically.	TRUE
91	File update code	an	1		Code indicating type of file update operation (1=add 2=change 3=delete 4=enquiry)	TRUE
92	File security code	n	2			TRUE
93	Response indicator	n	5			TRUE
94	Service indicator	an	7			TRUE
95	Replacement amounts	an	42		Actual amounts dispensed and settled for partial reversals. If not partial both amounts are zero.	TRUE
96	Message security code	an	8		Password to net management and file Update. Not currently validated by LINK	TRUE
97	Amount, net settlement	n	16			TRUE
98	Payee	ans	25			TRUE
99	Settlement institution identification code	n	11	LLVAR		TRUE
100	Receiving institution identification code	n	11	LLVAR		TRUE
101	File name	ans	17		Name of file being accessed for a file update.	TRUE
102	Account identification 1	ans	28	LLVAR	Identifies the 'from' account in a transfer	TRUE
103	Account identification 2	ans	28	LLVAR		TRUE
104	Transaction description	ans	100	LLVAR		TRUE
105	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
106	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
107	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
108	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
109	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
110	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
111	Reserved for ISO use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
112	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
113	Authorising agent institution id code	n	11	LLVAR	Institution approving or denying the transaction.	TRUE
114	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
115	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
116	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
117	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
118	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
119	Reserved for national use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
120	Reserved for private use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
121	Reserved for private use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
122	Reserved for private use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
123	Reserved for private use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
124	Info Text	ans	255	LLLVAR	For file updates, cardholder file maint data, for admin advices the first 255 bytes in error.	TRUE
125	Network management information	ans	50	LLLVAR	Additional net management info: 1-16 working key, 17-20 check value, 21-50 spaces	TRUE
126	Issuer trace id	ans	6	LLLVAR	Used by issuer to label the txn with his own transaction id. Unique within business day. Unchanged through transaction life.	TRUE
127	Reserved for private use	ans	999	LLLVAR		TRUE
128	Message Authentication code	h	16		MAC check code	TRUE

Base-24 operational variances:

ACI�s Base-24 external messaging implements the following differences to the �vanilla� ISO8583 format described above. Refer to the ACI manual BA-DH011-02 for details.

Prior to the ISO8583 message itself, Base-24 implements four additional fields:

Data Prefix (optional, 0-9 bytes)

IMS/CICS transaction code (optional, 0-9 bytes)

Start of Base-24 header (mandatory literal �ISO�, 3 bytes)

Base-24 header (Mandatory, 9 bytes)

Data Prefix	IMS/CICS Tran code	ISO Header	Base-24 Header	Msg Type	Primary Bit map	Data elements
123456789	123456789	ISO	123456789	1234	bbbbbb	-variable-

Note that all Base-24 fields are transmitted in display format (i.e. all Binary fields are converted to display for messaging) to avoid complications is ASCII-EBCDIC conversion and communications transparency. This results in binary fields (such as the primary bit map of 64 bits) being 16 bytes in length rather than the 8 bytes defined in the ISO8583 standard.

All referenced sources acknowledged.