Concepts
Non-working days and public holidays are defined via either an Annual Calendar or Holiday Calendar. Both calendars are Dynamic Processing Settings which can be created/retrieved/updated and deleted via REST API’s.
Annual Calendar
The Annual Calendar defines non-working days that occur on the same date every year, such as Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. It uses a month day (MM-DD) format and does not take the year into account, meaning the same rules apply across all years. In addition to fixed-date holidays, this calendar also supports the configuration of two weekend days, typically Saturday and Sunday. It is well suited for capturing consistent non-working patterns that are repeated annually.
Holiday Calendar
The Holiday Calendar on the other hand, records specific non-working days that vary from year to year. These may include movable holidays such as Easter or national holidays that fall on different dates each year, such as the May Bank Holiday in the UK. It uses a full date format (YYYY-MM-DD) and is ideal for setting movable holidays and one-off holidays e.g. coronation.
Use of Calendars
The Working Day Service references both calendars to determine whether a specific date is a valid execution or settlement date. These calendars inform the service of non-business days so that payments are not scheduled or settled on those dates. The service can find the next valid execution or settlement date.
The calendars are dynamically configured, and can be tailored to specific clearing systems (e.g. SEPA, UK Domestic) or institutions.
The Working Days Service exposes an API for:
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Validating execution date
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Calculating next execution date
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Validating settlement date
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Calculating next settlement date
For details on usage please refer to Working Days Service API