Bank Account Validation - The Basics

Modulus Checking

A modulus check is an arithmetic check that establishes whether there is a valid link between a given sort code and account number range.
Modulus checking is a vital process within bank account validation for Bacs submissions, ensuring that errors arising during the capturing of data are flagged for the payer's attention to enable them to correct them before they are submitted, thus avoiding costly returned transactions.
Modulus checking can be incorporated into your existing systems, carried out by a payments application such as Albany ePAY, or a dedicated bank account validation tool such as Albany eVERIFY.
For business Direct Debit (DD) users, modulus checking is particularly important as it validates your customer's bank account details and ascertains whether their account can accept Direct Debits.
If your company's DD collection process lacks modulus checking, many of your collections will likely fail. Due to this risk, Bacs recommends modulus checking for AUDDIS service users and has made it mandatory for paperless Direct Debit users.

The Extended Industry Sort Code Directory is a central list of all sort codes that participate in one or more of the UK's clearing services, for example Bacs Direct Credits, Faster Payments and Direct Debits.
The EISCD:
- Decides whether an account number is valid for the bank and branch represented by its sort code
- Shows what type of payments the bank account can receive.
In order for organisations to be sure their data is error-free, all Bacs software solutions, including Albany ePAY, are required to make these validation checks before sending a transaction to Bacs.