# Managing bank profiles

Billing codes are the identifying codes that the acquiring bank uses to trace your transactions in their systems and in the broader payments system. Typically billing codes are associated with an electronic banking profile that enables various services to be accessed. They are a critical component to Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT), Non-Authenticated Early Debit Orders (NAEDO) and DebiCheck collections.

The various collection types are outlined below:

| Instrument                  | Cost   | StrikeWindow | Tracking |
| --------------------------- | ------ | ------------ | -------- |
| Authenticated DebiCheck     | High   | First        | True     |
| Non-authenticated DebiCheck | High   | Second       | True     |
| AEDO                        | Medium | Third        | True     |
| NAEDO                       | Medium | Fourth       | True     |
| EFT                         | Low    | Fifth        | False    |

Additional profiles may be required for certain services, such as gaining access to DebiCheck authentication or other information services. In some cases, these services can be combined on a single profile, but you should discuss your needs with your Relationship Banker. It is also important to note that various EFT service types exist and are associated with various prices and execution notice periods.&#x20;

The three EFT service types are outlined below:

| ServiceType    | NoticePeriod | Cost   |
| -------------- | ------------ | ------ |
| Same day value | T-0 day      | High   |
| One day EFT    | T-1 day      | Medium |
| Two day EFT    | T-2 days     | Low    |

EFT collections require collateral to be used, since they credit your account before the transaction is executed (and negative results are debited later) which is effectively a very short term loan from the bank to you. BankTech's [SmartBanking ](../industry-use-cases/smartbanking)solution provides our clients with a way to minimise or eliminate the need for collateral to use EFT collections based on their collection performance.

If you are interested in performing DebiCheck authentications or collections, it is important for you to set up a DebiCheck profile and share the certificate securely with us if you intended to use those in a straight through processing manner with us. We will test this configuration as part of our regular penny testing activities and you'll be able to use them in Sandbox when available.

{% hint style="warning" %}
The structure of your bank profile has a large impact on the time it takes to set them up and also on the efficiency of your processing. Combining too many instruments or short names on a single profile may cause unavoidable congestion and missed debit dates unless you submit well in advance which may not suit your business needs.
{% endhint %}

The most efficient and robust banking profile structure is outlined below:&#x20;

* Banking profile
  * Billing code 1
    * Instrument 1 (e.g. EFT)
      * Short name 1
        * Service type 1 (e.g. same day value)
          * Nominated account
        * Service type 2 (e.g. one day EFT)
          * Nominated account
        * Service type 3 (e.g. two day EFT)
          * Nominated account
  * Billing code 2
    * Instrument 2 (e.g. NAEDO)
      * Short name 1
        * Service type (e.g. NAEDO)
          * Nominated account
  * Billing code 3
    * Instrument 3 (e.g. DebiCheck)
      * Short name 1
        * Service type (e.g. DebiCheck)
          * Nominated account

Obtaining new profiles or raising change requests to existing profiles can be a lengthy process. Various written and electronic approvals are required to start the process, finalise configuration details (such as H2H setup and directory pathing) and in all cases penny testing will be required before setting them to live. Wholesale changes generally involve comparable time and effort to effect as single requests.&#x20;

{% hint style="info" %}
The duration of this process is mainly dependent on the number of permutations to be tested and can be explored in more detail over on our [Penny testing](../uat-guide/penny-testing) article.&#x20;
{% endhint %}

BankTech classifies bank profile permutations as records representing the combination of:

* Acquiring bank
* Banking profile
* Billing code
* Instrument
* Service type
* Short name
* Nominated account

When it comes to putting bank profiles live, BankTech's Operations Engineers will seek some information from you and complete a Change Request form for your approval. Once they have that, they will raise the corresponding change request with the relevant acquiring bank(s) and begin the process of their configuration and penny testing before letting you know when you can go-live.&#x20;

If you want to use the SO model to process through BankTech, but you are currently processing through your own systems or another provider's systems on your bank profiles, you will need to stop processing one those profiles to transfer them over to us and preserve the critical sequencing numbers used in transmission. It is therefore ideal to transfer bank profiles over in a managed staged fashion.&#x20;

{% hint style="info" %}
If you are starting a new account and need new bank profiles or would like to modify your bank profiles, please start the process of configuring these with us by [letting us know](https://support.bank.tech).
{% endhint %}
