MT940 Format Overview

It is fair to say that most SEPA implementations are focusing on SEPA compliance, and rightly so! This focus will ensure that corporate payments and direct debit collections can continue to happen uninterrupted after the SEPA deadline. The spotlight for now is very much on the corporate to bank space. Less attention is being given the other way, i.e. bank to corporate. As a bare minimum, I would recommend you to have an understanding of the SEPA Rejection Reason Codes, R-Transactions or R-Messages.

The other significant area in the bank to corporate space is bank statement reporting. With SEPA you may be asked questions about the content of your bank statement file. I am going to assume that the vast majority of corporates are using the MT940 format for end of day bank statement reporting.

The intention of this post if to provide you with an overview of the MT940 file format. It should help you to identify in which field a particular value has or has not been sent!

What is an MT940?

An MT940 is a standard structured SWIFT Customer Statement message. In short, it is an electronic bank account statement which has been developed by SWIFT. It is a end of day statement file which details all entries booked to an account.

MT940 Format Details:

The MT940 file format consists of the following sections and tags:

Tag 20 – Transaction Reference Number

• Mandatory – 16x
• Used by the Sender to unambiguously identify the message

Tag 21 – Related Reference

• Optional – 16x
• If the MT 940 is sent in response to an MT 920 Request Message, this field must contain the field 20 Transaction Reference Number of the request message

Tag 25 – Account Identification

• Mandatory – 35x
• This field identifies the account for which the statement is sent

Tag 28C – Statement Number/Sequence Number

• Mandatory – 5n[/5n]
• Sequential number of the statement, optionally followed by the sequence number of the message within that statement when more than one message is sent for one statement
  • For example – the first message within the statement would be represented as 28C:111/1, the second message within the same file would be 28C:111/2

Tag 60a – Opening Balance

• Mandatory – 1!a6!n3!a15d – D/C | Date | Currency | Amount
• Indicating for the (intermediate) opening balance, whether it is a debit or credit balance, the date, the currency and the amount of the balance
• There are 2 options:
  • Option F – :60F:
    • Debit/Credit | Last Statement Date (YYMMDD)  | Currency (ISO) | Amount
  • Option M – :60M:
    • Debit/Credit | Current Statement Date (YYMMDD)  | Currency (ISO) | Amount

 

Tag 61 – Statement Line

• Optional – 6!n[4!n]2a[1!a]15d1!a3!c16x[//16x]
  [34x]
  • 6!n Value Date (YYMMDD)
  • [4!n] Entry Date (MMDD)
  • 2a Debit/Credit Mark
  • [1!a] Funds Code (3rd character of the currency code, if needed)
  • 15d Amount
  • 1!a3!c Transaction Type Identification Code
  • 16x Customer Reference
  • [//16x] Bank Reference
  • [34x] Supplementary Details (this will be on a new/separate line)

Tag 86 – Information to Account Owner

• Optional – 6x65x
• Additional information about the transaction detailed in the preceding statement line and which is to be passed on to the account owner

 

Tag 62a – Closing Balance (Booked Funds)

• Mandatory – 1!a6!n3!a15d – D/C | Date | Currency | Amount
• Indicating for the (intermediate) closing balance, whether it is a debit or credit balance, the date, the currency and the amount of the balance
• There are 2 options:
  • Option F – :60F:
    • Debit/Credit | Last Statement Date (YYMMDD)  | Currency (ISO) | Amount
  • Option M – :60M:
    • Debit/Credit | Current Statement Date (YYMMDD)  | Currency (ISO) | Amount

Tag 64 – Closing Available Balance (Available Funds)

• Optional – 1!a6!n3!a15d – D/C | Date | Currency | Amount
• Indicates the funds which are available to the account owner (if credit balance) or the balance which is subject to interest charges (if debit balance).
• Debit Balance /Credit Balance |  Date (YYMMDD)  | Currency (ISO) | Amount

 

Tag 65 – Forward Available Balance

• Optional – 1!a6!n3!a15d – – D/C | Date | Currency | Amount
• Indicates the funds which are available to the account owner (if a credit or debit balance) for the specified forward value date
• Debit Balance /Credit Balance |  Date (YYMMDD)  | Currency (ISO) | Amount

 

Tag 86 – Information to Account Owner

• Optional – 6x65x
• Additional information about the statement as a whole

I’ve deliberately missed out the SWIFT header and footer sections, since here we’re mostly interested in the MT940 format and data contents.

Having quick access to this has certainly helped me recently, and I hope it helps you too!