Bank reconciliation
Bank reconciliation is matching a firm's own records of cash movements and balances against the bank's statements, and investigating any differences. Payment firms run it daily or intraday, by account and currency, because unexplained differences can hide errors, fraud or safeguarding shortfalls.
How it works
Banks report through standard messages. In ISO 20022, camt.053 is the statement of booked entries and balances, used for cash management and reconciliation. camt.052 gives an intraday view whose balances are not always final, and camt.054 notifies individual debits and credits without balance information. camt.053 is the equivalent of the MT 940 and MT 950, and camt.054 replaces the MT 900 and MT 910.
Regulated firms have firm rules. Under the FCA's CASS 15, in force since 7 May 2026, UK payment and e-money institutions must run an external safeguarding reconciliation at least once each reconciliation day. They compare balances currency by currency with the latest statements from the banks and custodians holding relevant funds, and resolve discrepancies without undue delay unless they come only from timing differences.
Common breaks include fees deducted in transit, FX rounding, returns, duplicate postings and payments without a usable reference. Items that cannot be explained at once go to a suspense account, where supervisors expect them to be aged and cleared. Virtual IBANs, which give each payer its own account identifier, and UETRs, which give each Swift payment a unique reference, cut breaks by making matching automatic.
Example
On Tuesday the ledger shows EUR 2,450,000 at the euro safeguarding bank, and the camt.053 shows EUR 2,449,820. Investigation finds two inbound SEPA payments of EUR 100,000 each, both reduced by EUR 90 in bank fees. Treasury books the EUR 180 of charges and, under CASS 15, tops up the safeguarding account from its own funds if the fees reduced relevant funds.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a payment firm reconcile?
At least daily for every account holding customer money; UK safeguarding rules require it each reconciliation day. High-volume accounts benefit from intraday matching on camt.052 or API data.
What is the difference between camt.053 and camt.054?
camt.053 is a statement of booked entries with balances. camt.054 notifies one or more debits or credits and carries no balance information.
Where Polynopsis fits
Polynopsis reads bank balances and transactions from statement files and APIs into one position each morning, the starting point for reconciling.
Compared with
Related terms
Sources
- Interbank Statement Creation Market Practice paper (January 2025) · Swift
- camt.053.001.08 BankToCustomerStatementV08 usage guideline · Payments Canada
- ISO 20022 Learning Guide Module 9: a deep dive on camt.054 · BNY
- Reference Guide: Credit and Debit Notification (camt.054) · Bank of America
- CASS 15.8 Records, accounts and reconciliations · FCA Handbook
- Examination Manual for U.S. Branches and Agencies of Foreign Banking Organizations (February 2026) · Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Know where all your money is.
Polynopsis gives cross-border payment teams one live position across every bank, payout partner, exchange and wallet, including money in flight, and warns before a corridor runs dry.
About Polynopsis
Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.
Why it is called Polynopsis · About Polynopsis · Glossary · Corridor runway calculator