All data related to a specific bank needs to be maintained in the bank master, which is a series of data elements that comprise information the SAP system needs to process various financial operations.
The bank master maintains all essential information about banks that the SAP S/4HANA Finance system will conduct business with. Several of the key data elements maintained in the bank master include the bank’s address, SWIFT code/Bank Identifier Code (BIC), and routing number/American Bankers Association (ABA) number. Each of these data elements is critical to correctly processing treasury payments out of the SAP system, as well as processing information from electronic bank statements.
Any bank that the SAP system will encounter will need to be maintained in this bank master, which is primarily stored in the BNKA table, as shown in this figure.
There are several SAP transactions that we can use to maintain bank master data. First, we can create bank master data by utilizing the Manage Banks – Master Data app (shown in the next figure) or Transaction FI01.
To create a new bank entry, we click the Create button shown above, and selecting an individual record on this screen allows us to manage that selected entry. When creating a new bank entry, we will be required to input both the country and the region of the new bank entry, as well as an SAP identifier called Bank Key. The bank key is a unique identifier that the SAP S/4HANA system uses to identify a specific bank record within the bank master.
Many times, the bank key is composed of corresponding information that already uniquely identifies a bank—such as routing number or bank number. Ultimately, the combination of region and bank key needs to be unique for each bank entry in the bank master.
To maintain an existing bank key record, we can utilize the same Manage Banks – Master Data app or Transaction FI02, the latter of which will allow us to input a specific bank key record for recall and management. We can modify bank address information and SWIFT/BIC data, but we can’t change the bank key. In the next figure, the bank master record has been created, and all of the fields are available for us to make changes, with the exceptions of the bank key and bank number fields.
Bank master data is difficult to delete, and rarely is this type of data completely removed from SAP databases. The information is retained to maintain past records and to maintain the integrity of past financial data within the SAP S/4HANA system. Instead of allowing deletion, SAP will allow us to mark or flag a particular bank master record as unnecessary, thus removing it from use going forward. We do this by using Transaction FI06. We’ll check the Deletion Indicator box as shown in the next figure, and then, we’ll be able to delete the bank master record by archiving or reorganizing records.
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Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book Treasury and Risk Management with SAP S/4HANA: The Comprehensive Guide by Luke Carlson, Andrew Carlson, and Jeffrey Lasecki. Luke has over 18 years of experience in SAP Treasury and Risk Management, and has delivered SAP treasury projects to more than 25 companies across the globe. Andrew began working with SAP treasury solutions in 2009 first as a business user and soon after as a consultant. Jeffrey has specialized in SAP Treasury and Risk Management since 2006 and has worked with clients across North America and Europe in the areas of cash management and treasury.
This post was originally published 9/2025.
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