SWIFT MT Builder

What is a SWIFT MT message?

A SWIFT MT (Message Type) is a standardised financial message format used by the SWIFT network to send payment instructions, confirmations, and statements between banks. In T24, SWIFT messages are processed through the DE (Delivery) module — incoming messages arrive via DE.INCOMING, and outgoing messages are built and sent through DE.OUTGOING.

An MT message has five blocks: the basic header (sender and session info), the application header (receiver and priority), an optional user header, the text block containing the actual payment fields, and a trailer. The most common message types are MT103 (customer credit transfer) andMT202 (bank-to-bank transfer).

This builder helps you construct correctly formatted MT103 and MT202 messages without memorising the field tags, block structure, or format rules.

MT103 message example

A simple MT103 customer credit transfer looks like this:

{1:F01BKNLGB22XXXX0000000000}
{2:I103BOFAUS3NXXXN}
{4:
:20:PAY20260425001
:23B:CRED
:32A:260425GBP15000,
:50K:/100100
Acme Corporation
London
United Kingdom
:57A:BOFAUS3N
:59:/100567
John Smith
New York
USA
:70:INV-2025-0042
:71A:SHA
-}

Block 1 identifies the sender (BKNLGB22), Block 2 identifies the receiver (BOFAUS3N) and message type (103), and Block 4 contains the payment details — reference, amount, ordering customer, beneficiary, and charge code.

Frequently asked questions

What is MT103 format?

MT103 is the SWIFT message type for customer credit transfers — a payment from one customer to another, possibly across different banks. It includes fields for the sender's reference (field 20), value date and amount (field 32A), ordering customer (field 50K), beneficiary (field 59), and charges (field 71A). It is the most commonly used SWIFT message type in retail banking.

What is the difference between MT103 and MT202?

MT103 is a customer credit transfer — it moves money from one customer to another and includes beneficiary details. MT202 is a bank-to-bank transfer — it moves money between financial institutions and does not include beneficiary customer details. MT202 is often used as a cover payment when the customer transfer (MT103) goes through a different channel.

What are the five blocks of a SWIFT message?

A SWIFT MT message has five blocks: Block 1 (Basic Header — sender BIC, session, sequence), Block 2 (Application Header — message type, receiver BIC, priority), Block 3 (User Header — optional, for user-defined priority), Block 4 (Text — the payment fields), and Block 5 (Trailer — MAC/PAC for authentication). This builder handles Blocks 1-4 for you.

How do I validate a SWIFT BIC?

A valid BIC (Bank Identifier Code) is either 8 characters (e.g. BKNLGB22) or 11 characters (e.g. BKNLGB22XXX). The first 4 are the bank code, the next 2 are the country code, the next 2 are the location code, and the last 3 (optional) are the branch code. This builder validates BIC length and warns you if a BIC is the wrong length.