| Field | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
:20: | A unique reference assigned by the sending bank for this debit confirmation. It identifies the confirmation in both banks systems and lets operations teams trac | M |
:21: | The reference of the underlying instruction that caused the debit, such as the transaction reference of the original payment. It links the confirmation to the p | M |
:25: | The account that was debited, identified by account number and sometimes by the account owner name. It tells the receiver exactly which account the debit hit. A | M |
:32A: | The value date, ISO currency code and amount of the debit, for example 261106USD367574,90. The receiver compares it with its own expected debit to confirm settl | M |
:52a: | The institution that ordered the underlying transfer, when it differs from the sender of the MT900. It identifies the true originator of the debit instruction. | O |
:72: | Additional information from sender to receiver, such as a narrative explaining the debit or a code for the debit type. It can carry the reason for a charge or a | O |
:50a: | The customer who ordered the underlying payment, when the debit relates to a customer instruction. It gives the account and name of the originator. The receiver | O |
:59a: | The beneficiary of the underlying payment, when the debit relates to a customer transfer. It gives the account and name of the recipient. The receiver uses it t | O |
:71B: | Details of any charges included in the debit, with the charge type and amount in free text. It explains why the debit amount differs from the original instructi | O |
:77B: | Regulatory information related to the debit, when required by local rules. It can carry reporting codes for the underlying transaction. The receiver keeps it fo | O |
Harbour Bank sends an MT900 to Meridian Bank confirming a debit of USD 367,574.90 on 6 November 2026 from Meridian account 88012345, reference COV77812. The related reference matches the cover payment, the value date matches the settlement date, and Meridian reconciles the debit against its expected nostro movement.
Valid example from the message catalogue. Scheme rules: MT900 follows the SWIFT message rules for debit confirmations and remains in use for account reporting alongside camt.054 in ISO 20022 flows. No CBPR+ rule replaces it for customer reporting, because
MT900 and MT910, confirmations of debit and credit
What you will learn
Your objective. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain MT900 and MT910, confirmations of debit and credit. The MT900 is a confirmation of debit, and the MT910 is a confirmation of credit.
Why it matters. Analysts should include MT900 and MT910 in their payment flow diagrams and in their reconciliation requirements, because they are the link between the payment instruction and the actual movement of funds.
Chapter objective: Learner reads and interprets SWIFT MT messages, including MT103, MT202, MT202COV, MT940, and MT950, and explains the purpose, key fields, and business use of each message type. Learner demonstrates this skill using realistic banking examples, explaining each step clearly and using correct terminology throughout.
Key learning points
- MT900: confirmation of debit
- Amount or the value date
- See where the MT900 and MT910
- Field 25 identifies
- MT910 with the wrong amount
Key terms
Remittance information: Information that explains what a payment is for, such as invoice numbers, contract references or salary month.
Nostro reconciliation: Reconciliation of a bank nostro account against the statement received from the correspondent bank. Operations teams match each nostro entry to a statement entry, investigate breaks, and confirm the...
Reconciliation: The process of comparing records from two sources, such as a bank statement and an internal ledger, to confirm they agree.
SWIFT MT message viewer showing MT900 and MT910, confirmations of debit and credit.
Practise this lesson
Exercise
Investigate the reconciliation break described in this lesson and find its root cause.
Use the three-way matching rule and the break categories in this lesson.
- What to do. Compare the instruction, the settlement record and the statement, name the break type, and state the corrective action.
Correct result. A break is found by matching amount, currency, date and reference across the three sources. The root cause is a timing difference, an amount difference, a missing entry, or a duplicate, and the corrective action follows the cause.
Why. Reconciliation is the last line of defence. A break that is not investigated is money that cannot be proved.
Check your understanding
Practice question
Which of the following best describes MT900 and MT910, confirmations of debit and credit?
Takeaway and next step
What to remember
An expected MT900 that never arrives means the funds may not have left the nostro account.
Open the message type from this lesson and inspect its fields, then find the field that carries the amount.
Open the ISO 20022 Message Explorer →
Builds on "MT202, bank to bank cover payments".
Transcript and full text
Show transcript
The MT900 is a confirmation of debit, and the MT910 is a confirmation of credit. They are sent by a bank to its account holder to confirm that an account has been debited or credited. For example, when a correspondent bank debits a nostro account to settle a payment, it sends an MT900 to the account holder to confirm the debit. When it credits a nostro account, it sends an MT910. These messages are simple, but they are essential for nostro reconciliation, because they provide the account holder with an independent confirmation that the expected debit or credit has occurred. The MT900 and MT910 carry the account number, the amount, the currency, the value date, and a reference to the underlying transaction. They do not carry the full customer details of the underlying payment, but they carry enough information for the receiving bank to match the confirmation to its own records. If the amount or the value date does not match the expected payment, the reconciliation team must investigate. A missing MT900 or MT910 can cause a reconciliation break, where the bank records show a payment but there is no confirmation from the correspondent, or vice versa. In modern operations, MT900 and MT910 messages are often processed automatically and matched to the underlying payment or to the nostro statement. However, they are still important for exception handling. If a payment is sent but no MT900 is received, the sending bank does not know whether the funds have left its nostro account. If a payment is expected but no MT910 is received, the receiving bank does not know whether to credit the customer. Analysts should include MT900 and MT910 in their payment flow diagrams and in their reconciliation requirements, because they are the link between the payment instruction and the actual movement of funds. See where the MT900 and MT910 sit in a payment flow. A customer payment travels as an MT103, and the funds travel as an MT202 through correspondent banks. When the correspondent bank debits the nostro account of the sending bank, it sends an MT900 to confirm the debit. When it credits the nostro account of the receiving bank, it sends an MT910 to confirm the credit. Those confirmations close the loop. The sending bank knows the funds have left its account, the receiving bank knows the funds have arrived, and both sides can match the confirmation against the payment instruction they already hold. The fields are short and practical. Field 20 is the transaction reference of the confirmation itself. Field 21 is the related reference, which points back to the underlying payment, so the receiving bank can match the confirmation to the MT103 or MT202 it already has. Field 25 identifies the account that was debited or credited. Field 32A carries the value date, the currency, and the amount. Field 52a identifies the ordering institution, and field 72 can carry sender to receiver information. There is no customer remittance information and no beneficiary detail, because the confirmation is about the account movement, not about the customer payment. Reconciliation is where these messages earn their keep. Each morning the nostro reconciliation team matches expected debits and credits against the MT900 and MT910 messages received, and against the statement that arrives later as an MT940 or MT950. A match on reference, amount, and value date closes the item. A break means something is wrong. An expected MT900 that never arrives means the funds may not have left the nostro account. An MT910 with the wrong amount means the cover was short. A duplicate MT910 means the account may have been credited twice. Each break becomes an investigation, and the analyst needs to know which message to ask for and which field to compare. In the ISO 20022 world, the MT900 and MT910 are replaced by the camt.054 bank to customer debit credit notification. A camt.054 debit notification plays the role of the MT900, and a camt.054 credit notification plays the role of the MT910. The pacs.002 payment status report also carries status information that MT never carried in a structured form. An analyst writing migration requirements must map each MT900 and MT910 flow to its camt.054 equivalent, must state which references the reconciliation system will match on, and must confirm that the operations team can work a reconciliation break from the new messages without needing to translate them back to MT.
The MT900 is a confirmation of debit, and the MT910 is a confirmation of credit. They are sent by a bank to its account holder to confirm that an account has been debited or credited. For example, when a correspondent bank debits a nostro account to settle a payment, it sends an MT900 to the account holder to confirm the debit. When it credits a nostro account, it sends an MT910. These messages are simple, but they are essential for nostro reconciliation, because they provide the account holder with an independent confirmation that the expected debit or credit has occurred.
The MT900 and MT910 carry the account number, the amount, the currency, the value date, and a reference to the underlying transaction. They do not carry the full customer details of the underlying payment, but they carry enough information for the receiving bank to match the confirmation to its own records. If the amount or the value date does not match the expected payment, the reconciliation team must investigate. A missing MT900 or MT910 can cause a reconciliation break, where the bank records show a payment but there is no confirmation from the correspondent, or vice versa.
In modern operations, MT900 and MT910 messages are often processed automatically and matched to the underlying payment or to the nostro statement. However, they are still important for exception handling. If a payment is sent but no MT900 is received, the sending bank does not know whether the funds have left its nostro account. If a payment is expected but no MT910 is received, the receiving bank does not know whether to credit the customer. Analysts should include MT900 and MT910 in their payment flow diagrams and in their reconciliation requirements, because they are the link between the payment instruction and the actual movement of funds.
See where the MT900 and MT910 sit in a payment flow. A customer payment travels as an MT103, and the funds travel as an MT202 through correspondent banks. When the correspondent bank debits the nostro account of the sending bank, it sends an MT900 to confirm the debit. When it credits the nostro account of the receiving bank, it sends an MT910 to confirm the credit. Those confirmations close the loop. The sending bank knows the funds have left its account, the receiving bank knows the funds have arrived, and both sides can match the confirmation against the payment instruction they already hold.
The fields are short and practical. Field 20 is the transaction reference of the confirmation itself. Field 21 is the related reference, which points back to the underlying payment, so the receiving bank can match the confirmation to the MT103 or MT202 it already has. Field 25 identifies the account that was debited or credited. Field 32A carries the value date, the currency, and the amount. Field 52a identifies the ordering institution, and field 72 can carry sender to receiver information. There is no customer remittance information and no beneficiary detail, because the confirmation is about the account movement, not about the customer payment.
Reconciliation is where these messages earn their keep. Each morning the nostro reconciliation team matches expected debits and credits against the MT900 and MT910 messages received, and against the statement that arrives later as an MT940 or MT950. A match on reference, amount, and value date closes the item. A break means something is wrong. An expected MT900 that never arrives means the funds may not have left the nostro account. An MT910 with the wrong amount means the cover was short. A duplicate MT910 means the account may have been credited twice. Each break becomes an investigation, and the analyst needs to know which message to ask for and which field to compare.
In the ISO 20022 world, the MT900 and MT910 are replaced by the camt.054 bank to customer debit credit notification. A camt.054 debit notification plays the role of the MT900, and a camt.054 credit notification plays the role of the MT910. The pacs.002 payment status report also carries status information that MT never carried in a structured form. An analyst writing migration requirements must map each MT900 and MT910 flow to its camt.054 equivalent, must state which references the reconciliation system will match on, and must confirm that the operations team can work a reconciliation break from the new messages without needing to translate them back to MT.
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