ESub-Monthly Cadence
Terms Frequency Code E: Semi-monthly
Terms Frequency Code E means "Semi-monthly". Two payments are due each month, normally on fixed calendar dates such as the first and the fifteenth. Twenty-four payments a year, always exactly two per reporting cycle. It is reported in Terms Frequency (Field 28) of the Base Segment, 1 character at position 194.
Specification
| Code | E |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Semi-monthly |
| Field | Terms Frequency (Field 28) |
| Record | Base Segment |
| Length / position | 1 char · 194–194 |
| Category | Sub-Monthly Cadence |
| CRRG reference | CRRG Base Segment field definition, Terms Frequency |
What Terms Frequency Code E means
- E means twenty-four payments a year on fixed dates. It is the tidiest of the sub-monthly codes because two payments always fall inside one reporting cycle, with no drift and no thirteenth-month problem.
- The contrast with B is exact and worth memorizing: E is twice a month (24 a year, fixed dates), B is every two weeks (26 a year, floating dates). They differ by two payments annually and by whether the due dates move.
- Because the mapping is a clean two-to-one, E is the easiest sub-monthly cadence to convert: the monthly equivalent is simply twice the semi-monthly payment.
- The unresolved question survives anyway. A consumer who pays the first-of-month payment and misses the fifteenth has half-paid the cycle, and the in-repo source states no rule for whether that month reports current or past due.
- E does NOT mean bi-weekly. Reporting a bi-weekly payroll-aligned loan as E understates the annual payment count by two payments.
- E does NOT change the monthly nature of Scheduled Monthly Payment, even though the conversion here is trivially simple.
When to report E
- 1A consumer lender aligns an installment loan to a semi-monthly payroll cycle, with payments due on the first and the fifteenth.
- 2A property manager reports a rental arrangement billed twice monthly on fixed dates.
- 3A finance company structures a small installment loan around a borrower's twice-monthly benefit deposits.
- 4A lender converts a monthly loan to a semi-monthly schedule during a workout and updates Terms Frequency in the same cycle.
- 5An education lender bills a tuition payment plan on the first and fifteenth of each month during the academic term.
Reporting rules
- Populate Scheduled Monthly Payment with twice the semi-monthly payment. The conversion is simple, which makes getting it wrong harder to excuse.
- Do not use E for a bi-weekly loan. Check whether the due dates are fixed calendar dates (E) or every fourteen days (B).
- Express Terms Duration as a count of semi-monthly payments and keep the convention consistent.
- Set a documented rule for a half-paid month and apply it portfolio-wide, since the format leaves the judgement to you.
- Update Terms Frequency in the cycle the contractual schedule actually changes, not retroactively across prior records.
Codes and fields that must agree
A file can be structurally valid and still be wrong. These are the cross-field conditions Terms Frequency Code E has to satisfy.
- Scheduled Monthly Payment is a MONTHLY figure under E, equal to two semi-monthly payments. Reporting the single semi-monthly amount halves the consumer's apparent obligation.
- Terms Duration counts semi-monthly payments, so a twenty-four-payment loan is one year. A Terms Duration that reads as months under E is a terms-frequency-mismatch.
- Pairs with Portfolio Type I, and occasionally with Portfolio Type O where a service is billed twice monthly. E on Portfolio Type R or M is almost always a coding error.
- Actual Payment Amount is the total received in the month, which under E should be two payments in every full month with no seasonal variation.
- The Payment History Profile carries one monthly position, so a missed mid-month payment that is cured before the cycle closes leaves no trace on the record.
- Account Status for a half-paid cycle is a judgement the in-repo source does not resolve; whatever rule you adopt must be applied consistently or the tradeline's delinquency history becomes incoherent over time.
Common errors involving E
Vocabulary
Keep browsing
- All 11 terms frequency codes — the full set with categories and cross-field rules.
- Metro 2 codes cheat sheet — every CRRG code set on one page.
- Terms Frequency field reference — position, length, and validation rules.
- Metro 2 format reference
See Terms Frequency Code E in your own file
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