BANCO CENTRAL DE LA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA

COMMUNICATION "A" 3842 20/12/2002

TO FINANCIAL ENTITIES:

Ref.: Circular
RUNOR 1 - 607
Characteristics of the payment instruments issued by financial entities. Update of the consolidated text. ______ We address you to inform you that, pursuant to the provisions contained in Communication "A" 3827, we send you attached the sheets that should replace those in sections 1 and 2 of the consolidated text of the reference norms. In this regard, it is informed that the design and characteristics of freely available checks disclosed through Communication "A" 3728 will remain in effect omitting the inclusion of the letter "L" to the left of the routing code. In this sense, entities may, to the extent they exhaust their stock of checks with the previous design (156mm long by 70 mm wide) or prior to that moment if they deem it convenient, deliver documents with the characteristics specified in the aforementioned communication. In this sense, it is noted that entities that have not yet carried out the homologation procedure for the new design checks, as of the date, must carry out said procedure under the terms and conditions specified in Communication "A" 3728. It is also highlighted that only checks that have previously been homologated by this Central Bank can be cleared in the clearinghouse. The list of financial entities that meet this requirement will be disclosed periodically through the relevant communication. Entities must, without fail, starting from 02.01.2004, deliver checkbooks that conform to the new document design. Documents of any design prior to that detailed in Communication "A" 3728 will only be accepted for clearing in the clearinghouses until 31.12.2004. We salute you very attentively. BANCO CENTRAL DE LA REPUBLICA ARGENTINA Nicolás Delle Grazie Julio C. Siri Deputy Manager of Payment Systems and Operations Payment System Manager

ANEXO

B.C.R.A.
UPDATED CONSOLIDATED TEXT OF THE NORMS ON CHARACTERISTICS OF PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS ISSUED BY FINANCIAL ENTITIES

• Index -
  Section 1. General provisions on payment instruments.
  1.1. Document dimensions.
  1.2. Design.
  1.2.1. Particular characteristics of models 2.2. to 2.9.
  1.2.2. Particular characteristics of models 2.11 to 2.12
  1.3. Assignment and control of the check digit in the routing code.
  1.3.1. Assignment of the digit - (Multiplier 9713).
  1.3.1.1. Application examples.
  1.3.2. Control routine - (Multiplier 9713).
  1.3.2.1. Application examples.
  1.4. Free strip, reserved for the SCAN line in magnetic characters.
  1.5. Other characteristics of payment instruments.
  1.5.1. Paper specifications.
  1.5.2. Security elements.
  1.5.3. Color.
  1.5.4. Magnetic characters
  Section 2. Models.
  2.1. Specifications and measurements of documents – previous design- (models 2.2. to
  2.9.)
  2.2. Check in pesos.
  2.3. Check in US dollars.
  2.4. Deferred payment check in pesos.
  2.5. Deferred payment check in US dollars.
  2.6. Reverse side of deferred payment check (CPD).
  2.7. Transferable nominative certificate -in pesos-.
  2.8. Transferable nominative certificate -in US dollars-.
  2.9. Reverse side of transferable nominative certificate (CNT) with endorsement.
  2.10. Specifications and measurements of documents – current design - (models 2.11. and
  2.12.)
  2.11. Check .
  2.12. Deferred payment check.
  20/12/2002

Characteristics of the payment instruments issued by financial entities B.C.R.A.
Section 1. General provisions on payment instruments.
° Entity code: the code assigned by the Central Bank of the Republic Argentina to each entity must be used. In the case of entities whose identification number is one or two digits, they must add two zeros or one zero respectively to the left, with the purpose that the code consists of three digits. ° House type code: To this effect, each entity will assign a three-digit code to its houses, according to the following criterion:

• Head office and/or single as 000
• Main office as 999
• Subsidiaries or branches in a consecutive manner from 001 to 998.
  ° Payment address code: The next four digits indicate the banking postal code of the payment address according to the guide published by ENCOTESA.
• Second line: the check number;
• Third line: the account number.
  To the right of each of the three lines mentioned, separated by a blank space, there must appear a check digit, whose calculation methodology and control routine are indicated in point 1.3. On the left margin of the document, a zone will be determined that will have a dimension of 30 mm wide by 60 mm high, and will be used for the purpose of identifying the issuing entity. It is also highlighted that; all kinds of holograms, images, logos, etc. that entities wish to include in the document, can only do so in said zone. The format of the data to be included in the text of the document must be printed in a font size no smaller than that corresponding to the XEROX UN208E standard, except for the CUIT, CUIL or CDI number of each of the account holders which will be printed in a typography suitable for optical character recognition (OCR).
  1.3. Assignment and control of the check digit in the routing code.
  1.3.1. Assignment of the digit - (Multiplier 9713).
  1.3.1.1. Each digit of the components to be verified must be multiplied by:
• the extreme right position 3
• the next consecutive position to the left 1
• the next consecutive position to the left 7
  20/12/2002

Characteristics of the payment instruments issued by financial entities B.C.R.A.
Section 1. General provisions on payment instruments.
1.4. Free strip, reserved for the SCAN line in magnetic characters.
At the bottom of the document, a longitudinal free strip is left reserved for the magnetic recognition code line, its width being 16 mm from the lower edge. The code line, that is, the set of magnetic recognition characters referred to in the book indicated in section 1.5.4., must be printed within the indicated band and is composed of two areas -from right to left-, areas 1 and 2, which are determined as follows:
AREA 1 (post-magnetized):
from right to left:

• Symbol No. 2.
• Amount: 10 digits (8 whole, 2 decimals).
• Blank field: minimum one space of 3.2 mm.
• Document type: 2 digits.
• Blank field: minimum one space of 3.2 mm.
  AREA 2 (pre-magnetized):
  from right to left:
• Symbol No. 5.
• Account number: 11 digits.
• Document number: 8 digits.
• Postal Code: 4 digits.
• Branch code: 3 digits.
• Entity code: 3 digits.
• Symbol No. 3.
  20/12/2002

Characteristics of the payment instruments issued by financial entities B.C.R.A. Section 2 Models.
2.10. SPECIFICATIONS AND MEASURES OF DOCUMENTS (Models 2.11 AND 2.12.)
(1)
(3)
(4)
(4)
(6)
(5)
(8)
(8) (7)
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Characteristics of the payment instruments issued by financial entities B.C.R.A. Section 2 Models.
2.11. CHECK
20/12/2002

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Characteristics of the payment instruments issued by financial entities B.C.R.A. Section 2 Models.
2.12. DEFERRED PAYMENT CHECK
Version 3a. Communication "A" 3842 Validity 20/12/2002 The payment date cannot exceed a term of 360 days

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B.C.R.A.
ORIGIN OF THE PROVISIONS INCLUDED IN THE CONSOLIDATED TEXT OF THE NORMS ON CHARACTERISTICS OF PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS ISSUED BY FINANCIAL ENTITIES CONSOLIDATED TEXT ORIGIN NORM
Section Point Paragraph Com.
Annex or
Chapter
Point Paragraph
Observations
“A” 2517
1.1. “A” 2798 V According to Com. “A” 3728
1.2. “A” 2798 I According to Com. “A” 3728 and
“A” 3842
1.3. “A” 2517 II
1.3.1. “A” 2517 II
1.3.1.1. “A” 2517 II
1.3.2. “A” 2517 II
1.3.2.1. “A” 2517 II
1.4. “A” 15 15.3. According to Com. “A” 3728 and
“A” 3842
1.5. “A” 2517
1.5.1. “A” 2517 III According to Com. “A” 3728
1.5.2. “A” 2517 IV According to Com. “A” 3728
1.5.3. “A” 3728 unique
1.
1.5.4. “A” 15 I 15.
2.1. to 2.9. “A” 2798 I
2.10. “A” 3728 unique 2.1. According to Com. "A" 3842
2. 2.11. “A” 3728 unique 2.2. According to Com. "A" 3842
2.12. “A” 3728 unique 2.3. According to Com. “B” 7602 and
"A" 3842