NARR - Narrative — see bank text

What this code means

NARR means the bank did not use a standard reason code: it supplied a free-text explanation instead. The real reason is in the narrative field of the pain.002, not in the code.

Typical causes

• The rejection reason has no matching standard code in the ISO 20022 list.
• The bank prefers free text for certain internal or country-specific rejections.
• Several problems were combined into a single textual explanation.

What to do

Read the narrative text supplied by the bank in the status report — it is the only place the actual reason appears. No generic retry applies: act on what the text says. ValidateFin's pain.002 reader surfaces the narrative alongside the code.

What it looks like in a pain.002

The reason code is carried in the StsRsnInf/Rsn/Cd element of the status report.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Document xmlns="urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:pain.002.001.03">
  <CstmrPmtStsRpt>
    <GrpHdr>
      <MsgId>STATUS-2026-000123</MsgId>
      <CreDtTm>2026-01-15T09:30:00</CreDtTm>
    </GrpHdr>
    <OrgnlGrpInfAndSts>
      <OrgnlMsgId>MSG-2026-000045</OrgnlMsgId>
      <OrgnlMsgNmId>pain.001.001.09</OrgnlMsgNmId>
    </OrgnlGrpInfAndSts>
    <OrgnlPmtInfAndSts>
      <OrgnlPmtInfId>PMTINF-2026-01</OrgnlPmtInfId>
      <TxInfAndSts>
        <OrgnlEndToEndId>E2E-REF-0001</OrgnlEndToEndId>
        <TxSts>RJCT</TxSts>
        <StsRsnInf>
          <Rsn>
            <Cd>NARR</Cd>
          </Rsn>
          <AddtlInf>Refer to the free-text explanation supplied by the bank</AddtlInf>
        </StsRsnInf>
      </TxInfAndSts>
    </OrgnlPmtInfAndSts>
  </CstmrPmtStsRpt>
</Document>

Tools for this code

Decode a real status report, or check a payment file before you send it — all in your browser, nothing uploaded.

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