SWIFT MT103 Universal Confirmation Requirements

Over the years, the demand for transparency has grown exponentially as both market participants and regulators become more concerned with funds’ allocation and generation of capital. In fact, transparency is becoming more of a focus area for these entities within cash management as the number of risk factors throughout the process continues to mount, leading to a greater potential to mismanage cash. For financial institutions operating on SWIFT, this concern has become more evident as new requirements emerge, including SWIFT MT103 universal confirmation.

WHAT is the SWIFT MT103 universal confirmation requirement?

• For MT103s received, financial institutions on SWIFT are obliged to send a confirmation of the payment status within two business days by updating the status on the SWIFT gpi tracker BIC (TRCKCHZZ)
• The following four payment statuses are possible:
  1. Credit
  2. Reject
  3. Transfer (outside SWIFT network)
  4. On Hold

WHY do financial institutions need to provide SWIFT MT103 confirmations?

• The SWIFT gpi initiative aims to improve customer experience through increased transparency in end-to-end payments tracking
• Confirmation of a payment status by financial institutions within two business days will enable transparency throughout the payment process

WHO is obliged to provide SWIFT MT103 confirmations?

• Financial institutions belonging to the following two user categories are obliged to provide MT103 confirmations:
  1. Supervised Financial Institutions (SUPE)
  2. Payment System Participants (PSPA)

HOW can SWIFT MT103 confirmations be provided?

• Manually: Log in to the Basic Tracker and update the payment status for each MT103 received
• MT199: Interbank payment message MT199 to BIC (TRCKCHZZ)
• ISO 20022: *Postponed to 2021 by SWIFT
• API: API calls
• Batch Confirmation: CSV format file for a batch of MT103s received

WHEN are financial institutions required to provide SWIFT MT103 confirmations?

• November 22^nd, 2020: Financial institutions are required to confirm the status of MT103s received
• June 1^st, 2021: Adherence status of all financial institutions will be visible across the SWIFT community

With the assistance of IVP Cash Management, financial institutions can avoid the risks and challenges associated with manual-based processes in an effort to ease the burden and streamline the delivery of SWIFT MT103 confirmations.

References : –

1. “Standard releases: Gain a clear picture of upcoming releases and manage the impact on your business using our dedicated tools,” SWIFT, 2020.
2. “Unlocking payment confirmations for all: By end 2020, all financial institutions on SWIFT will be required to confirm payments to the Tracker,” SWIFT, 2020.

Click here for more stories.