Unified Software
t: +44 (0)191 305 5035  e: info@unifiedsoftware.co.uk 

Developers

BankValidate

1. REST
2. SOAP

Important note.

All BankVal web services are available on both the main and backup servers at our primary data centre. This configuration is mirrored at our secondary data centre. The two data centres are geographically independent. Using this configuration, the BankVal web service has been available continuously since launch in 2003.

In general:

  • Call the service at the primary data centre at www.unifiedsoftware.co.uk
  • In the unlikely event of a failure, call the service at the secondary data centre at www.unifiedservices.co.uk

1 BankValidate - REST implementation


BankValidate functionality:

  • The bankvalidate method verifies a UK bank account number and sort code and returns validation results.

Follow these three steps:-

  • 1. Attempt to access the service on unifiedsoftware.co.uk
  • 2. Check the http response code
  • 3. If this is < 200 or > 399, access the backup service on unifiedservices.co.uk

URI for BankValidate

  • GET https://www.unifiedsoftware.co.uk/services/bankvaluk/validator/userid/‹userid›/pin/‹pin›/sortcode/‹sortcode›
    /account/‹account›/‹format›/

where:

  • ‹userid› and ‹pin› are your user ID and 5 digit PIN obtained upon registration at:
    www.unifiedsoftware.co.uk/free-trial/free-trial-home.html
  • ‹sortcode› and ‹account› are the bank details to be validated.
  • ‹format› specifies the format of the returned data. Valid formats are csv, xml and json.

Results

If sort code and account number are valid:-

  • The string VALID is returned

Example Valid Results

Sample valid response in xml format :-

‹validator›

  • ‹result›VALID‹result›

‹/validator›


Sample valid response in json format :-

  • {"result":"VALID"}

Sample valid response in csv format :-

  • VALID

If sort code and account number are not valid or if an error occurs:-

  • Return field - contains an error message

Error messages :-

Error Messages

INVALID - Sortcode - The supplied sort code does not exist in the VocaLink Extended Industry Sorting Code Directory (EISCD).

INVALID - Account - The supplied account number is not in any of the recognisable formats, i.e. 7 - 10 numeric characters in length.

INVALID - Modulus Check Failed - The sort code/ account number combination did not pass the modulus checks specified by the owning bank.

INVALID - Result Format - Problem, with format field in URI.

ERROR - Invalid User ID/PIN - The User ID or PIN has not been recognised.

ERROR - UserID Expired - Trial user ID has expired.

ERROR - Insecure Connection - An attempt was made to access BankVal's bankvalplus2 method using insecure HTTP protocol instead of HTTPS.


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2 BankValidate - SOAP implementation


BankValidate functionality:

  • The bankvalidate method verifies a UK bank account number and sort code and returns validation results.

Parameter Format for BankValidate

ReturnMessage = bankvalidate(QueryString)

where

QueryString is a " | " delimited string of the format - "userid|PIN|sort code|account number"

ReturnMessage is a " | " delimited string as shown below.

ReturnMessage meanings

VALID - All checks on sort code and account number passed successfully.

INVALID - Sortcode - The supplied sort code does not exist in the VocaLink Extended Industry Sorting Code Directory (EISCD).

INVALID - Account - The supplied account number is not in any of the recognisable formats, i.e. 7 - 10 numeric characters in length.

INVALID - Modulus Check Failed - The sort code/ account number combination did not pass the modulus checks specified by the owning bank .

ERROR - Invalid User ID/PIN - The User ID or PIN has not been recognised.

ERROR - UserID Expired - Trial user ID has expired.

ERROR - Insecure Connection - An attempt was made to access BankVal's bankvalidate method using the insecure HTTP protocol instead of HTTPS.


WSDL files

The WSDL file on the primary data centre is at www.unifiedsoftware.co.uk/bankvaluk3.wsdl

The WSDL file on the backup data centre is at www.unifiedservices.co.uk/bankvaluk3.wsdl


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