science

SWIFT message types

SWIFT message types is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SWIFT message types rather than just read about it. In short: SWIFT message types are the format or schema used to send messages to financial institutions on the SWIFT network. The original message types were developed by SWIFT and a subset was retrospectively made into an ISO standard, ISO 15022.

Key takeaways

SWIFT message types belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SWIFT message types to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SWIFT message types from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SWIFT message types are the format or schema used to send messages to financial institutions on the SWIFT network. The original message types were developed by SWIFT and a subset was retrospectively made into an ISO standard, ISO 15022. In many instances, SWIFT message types between custodians follow the ISO standard. This was later supplemented by a XML based version under ISO 20022.

Composition of MT number SWIFT messages consist of five blocks of data including three headers, message content, and a trailer. Message types are crucial to identifying content. All SWIFT messages include the literal "MT" (message type/text). This is followed by a three-digit number that denotes the message category, group and type. Consider the following two examples. Example 1 MT304

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 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. 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. 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. 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. Example 2 MT103

The first digit (1) represents the category. The category denoted by 1 is customer payments and cheques. 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. 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. A MT103 message is considered a "Single Customer Credit Transfer" and is used to instruct a funds transfer.

Overview of SWIFT MT categories The table below shows the different categories and the message type descriptions.

ISO 15022 MT Although ISO 15022 message types are different in their structure from the SWIFT MT, the naming convention remains the same.

Legal status The Courts in England and Wales have held that the header of a SWIFT message amounts to a valid form of electronic signature.

See also Delivery versus payment ISO 9362 (standard format for SWIFT IDs) MT202 COV MT940

External links Message standards supported by the SWIFT network: "Standards MT & MX Equivalence Table" (PDF). SWIFT. 28 July 2017. Message types defined in ISO15022 "ISO15022 Data Field Dictionary - Index of Messages". ISO.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SWIFT message types

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SWIFT message types claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SWIFT message types before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SWIFT message types ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SWIFT message types

In research: SWIFT message types appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SWIFT message types in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SWIFT message types is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SWIFT message types outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SWIFT message types in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SWIFT message types means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SWIFT message types out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SWIFT message types in simple terms?

Why does SWIFT message types matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SWIFT message types?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SWIFT message types.