SWIFT MT103 (Both One Way & Two Way)

A standard SWIFT MT103 (Single Customer Credit Transfer) is a general use message of a TT payment instruction which is an unconditional payment.

I would like to confirm that there is no MT103/23 Conditional, but MT103 (usually with Field 23B – bank operation – mandatory codeword CRED), Field 23E – Instruction Code – is where the remitting bank (at the request of the remitter) puts in instructions code instructing the beneficiary’s bank how to effect the payment.

MT 103 in Field 23E specifies an instruction which must contain barely one of the following SWIFT – STP (Straight Through Processing)– Optional/Conditional – just four digits SWIFT -STP accepted codeword:

SDVA: Payment must be executed with same day value to the beneficiary.
INTC: The payment is an intra-company payment, i.e., a payment between two companies belonging to the same group.
REPA: Payment has a related e-Payments reference.
CORT Payment is made in settlement of a trade, e.g., foreign exchange deal, securities transaction.
BONL: Payment is to be made to the beneficiary customer only.
HOLD: Beneficiary customer/claimant will call; pay upon identification.
CHQB: Pay beneficiary customer only by cheque. The optional account number line in field 59 must not be used.
PHOB: Please advise/contact beneficiary/claimant by phone.
TELB: Please advise/contact beneficiary/claimant by the most efficient means of telecommunication.
PHON: Please advise account with institution by phone.
TELE: Please advise account with institution by the most efficient means of telecommunication.
PHOI: Please advise the intermediary institution by phone.
TELI: Please advise the intermediary institution by the most efficient means of telecommunication

A so called “MT103/23 conditional payment” is a format which would not be recognized by banks.
You cannot send an MT103 with a condition that the beneficiary’s bank must receive, say presentation – evidencing of certain advisable documents detailed in Field 23E – from the beneficiary before crediting his account.

Such any other message (except merely SWIFT – STP four digits codes) stated by Field 23E will be rejected by the remitting bank, and if sent in Field 23 (which allows for only a few standard codes described above) will be rejected and ignored by the beneficiary’s bank who will credit the beneficiary’s account anyway.

It must be understood that other such messages are not governed by any ICC or SWIFT – STP provisions, and the manual intervention required under the “CONDITIONAL PAYMENT” flag would affect the “Straight Through Processing” (STP) function of the SWIFT MT103 message.

It is unlikely that the – SWIFT payment department – of a bank would wish to involve itself in an area for which it is not qualified, in determining the integrity of the underlying documents, and thereby lift the condition to pay the recipient.

Now for those who request a MT 103/23 , send it to me and see if it works! stop the madness already! Its not easy educating uninformed customers.

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