MT 103
MT 103 is the Swift message for a single customer credit transfer, sent by or for the payer's bank to the beneficiary's bank, directly or through correspondents. For cross-border payments between financial institutions it was replaced by the ISO 20022 pacs.008 message when coexistence ended on 22 November 2025.
How it works
The MT 103 carries payment details in fixed fields. Field 32A holds the value date, currency and interbank settled amount. Field 50a names the ordering customer and field 59a the beneficiary customer. Field 70 carries remittance information in up to four lines of 35 characters, and the user header must contain a UETR in field 121.
Field 71A says who pays charges. OUR means the ordering customer bears all transaction charges. SHA means the beneficiary bears all charges except those of the bank servicing the ordering customer's account. BEN means the beneficiary bears all charges, so at least one sender's charge in field 71F must be shown and the amount received is lower.
Since 22 November 2025, MT payment instructions are no longer supported on Swift FIN for cross-border flows between financial institutions. Swift converts critical MT 103s to pacs.008 through a contingency service, and both contingency processing and in-flow translation became chargeable on 1 January 2026. Swift reported that 97% of payment instructions were sent in ISO 20022 on 24 November 2025, the first business day after the switch.
Example
A payer instructs $20,000 to a supplier in Mexico with SHA charges. Its bank charges the payer $30 separately. One intermediary deducts $15, so the beneficiary's bank receives $19,985 and credits that amount less any fee of its own. Under OUR, the payer would bear all charges and the instructed $20,000 would be the amount intended to arrive.
Frequently asked questions
Does an MT 103 or pacs.008 prove the money arrived?
No. It shows the instruction was sent. Arrival shows in the GPI tracker or in the beneficiary bank's confirmation and statement.
What replaced the MT 103?
For cross-border payments between financial institutions, the ISO 20022 pacs.008. Swift maps MT 103 to pacs.008, MT 202 to pacs.009 and MT 202 COV to pacs.009 COV.
Where Polynopsis fits
Polynopsis matches outgoing transfers from their confirmations and keeps them in flight until they settle, whether they were sent as MT 103 or pacs.008.
Compared with
Related terms
Sources
- Category 1, Customer Payments and Cheques, Standards MT November 2023, Message Reference Guide · Swift
- ISO 20022 FAQs: MT to ISO 20022 conversion · Swift
- ISO 20022 FAQs: implementation · Swift
- Global financial community completes switch to ISO 20022 (25 November 2025) · Swift
- CBPR+ roadmap beyond November 2025 · Swift
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