Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
SWIFT message types
open-in-new
<h2 id="composition-of-mt-number">Composition of MT number</h2> <p>SWIFT messages consist of five blocks of data including three headers, message content, and a trailer. Message types are crucial to identifying content. </p><p>All SWIFT messages include the literal "MT" (message type/text<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>). This is followed by a three-digit number that denotes the message <i>category</i>, <i>group</i> and <i>type</i>. Consider the following two examples. </p><p>Example 1 </p><p>MT304 </p> <ul><li>The first digit (3) represents the category. A category denotes messages that relate to particular financial instruments or services such as precious metals (6), treasury (3), or traveller's cheques (8). The category denoted by 3 is treasury markets</li> <li>The second digit (0) represents a group of related parts in a transaction life cycle. The group indicated by 0 is a financial institution transfer.</li> <li>The third digit (4) is the type that denotes the specific message. There are several hundred message types across the categories. The type represented by 4 is a notification.</li></ul> <p>A MT304 message is considered an "Advice/Instruction of a Third Party Deal" and it used to advise of or instruct the settlement of a third party foreign exchange deal. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> For example, an asset manager who executed a FX transaction with a broker would send a MT304 instruction to the custodian bank of the client. </p><p> Example 2 </p><p><a href="/facts/MT103/sKrpfo5Y">MT103</a> </p> <ul><li>The first digit (1) represents the category. The category denoted by 1 is customer payments and cheques.</li> <li>The second digit (0) represents a group of related parts in a transaction life cycle. The group indicated by 0 is a financial institution transfer.</li> <li>The third digit (3) is the type that denotes the specific message. There are several hundred message types across the categories. The type represented by 3 is a notification.</li></ul> <p>A MT103 message is considered a "Single Customer Credit Transfer" and is used to instruct a funds transfer.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="overview-of-swift-mt-categories">Overview of SWIFT MT categories</h2> <p>The table below shows the different categories and the message type descriptions. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>Category</th><th>Message type</th><th>Description</th><th>Number of message types</th></tr><tr><td>0</td><td>MT0..</td><td>System messages</td><td>-</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>MT1..</td><td>Customer payments and cheques</td><td>19</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>MT2..</td><td>Financial institution transfers</td><td>18</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>MT3..</td><td>Treasury markets</td><td>27</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>MT4..</td><td>Collection and cash letters</td><td>17</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>MT5..</td><td>Securities Markets</td><td>60</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>MT6..</td><td>Treasury markets – metals and syndications</td><td>22</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>MT7..</td><td>Documentary credits and guarantees</td><td>29</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>MT8..</td><td>Traveller's cheques</td><td>11</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>MT9..</td><td>Cash management and customer status</td><td>21</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="iso-15022-mt">ISO 15022 MT</h2> <p>Although <a href="/facts/ISO_15022/CcnbrCrj">ISO 15022</a> message types are different in their structure than the SWIFT MT, the naming convention remains the same. </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Delivery_versus_payment/4SnYw8s8">Delivery versus payment</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/ISO_9362/dpdbXEA3">ISO 9362</a> (standard format for SWIFT IDs)</li> <li><a href="/facts/MT202_COV/vXkF4b5n">MT202 COV</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/MT940/cYRK2StS">MT940</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li>Message standards supported by the SWIFT network: <a href="https://www2.swift.com/uhbonline/books/public/en_uk/stdsmt_mt_mx_eq_tbl/stdsmt_mt_mx_eq_tbl.pdf">"Standards MT & MX Equivalence Table"</a> (PDF). SWIFT. 28 July 2017.</li> <li>Message types defined in ISO15022 <a href="https://www.iso20022.org/15022/uhb">"ISO15022 Data Field Dictionary - Index of Messages"</a>. ISO.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>McGill, R.; Patel, N. (2008). Global Custody and Clearing Services. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Springer. p. 27. ISBN 9781349282883. <a href="9781349282883" target="_blank">9781349282883</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>swift.com <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"List of all SWIFT Messages Types". Paiementor. Retrieved 2020-01-07. <a href="https://www.paiementor.com/list-of-all-swift-messages-types/" target="_blank">https://www.paiementor.com/list-of-all-swift-messages-types/</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"List of all SWIFT Messages Types". Paiementor. Retrieved 2020-01-07. <a href="https://www.paiementor.com/list-of-all-swift-messages-types/" target="_blank">https://www.paiementor.com/list-of-all-swift-messages-types/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>