MT 103 is the legacy Swift message for a single customer credit transfer between banks, with fields such as 50 (ordering customer), 59 (beneficiary), 70 (remittance information) and 71A (charges). In cross-border payments pacs.008 has replaced it, and banks still meet MT 103 data in archives, translations and investigations.
pacs.008 (FI to FI customer credit transfer)pacs.008 is the ISO 20022 message one bank sends to another to move a customer credit transfer, carrying payer, payee, amount, charges and remittance information. It replaces the Swift MT 103 in cross-border payments and is also the core message of SEPA credit transfers, instant payments and high-value systems such as T2 and CHAPS.
MT to MX migrationMT to MX migration is the move of cross-border payments and reporting on Swift from legacy MT messages, such as MT 103 and MT 202, to ISO 20022 (MX) messages under the CBPR+ guidelines. Coexistence for payment instructions ended in November 2025; later steps cover MT 101, structured addresses and investigations in 2026 and 2027.
Charge bearer codes (OUR, SHA, BEN)Charge bearer codes state who pays the fees of a cross-border payment: OUR (the payer pays all charges), SHA (each side pays its own bank) and BEN (the payee pays all, deducted from the amount). ISO 20022 uses DEBT, SHAR and CRED, plus SLEV, which follows the service level rules and is mandatory in SEPA.
Cover paymentA cover payment is a cross-border payment method in which the customer payment message goes directly from the payer's bank to the payee's bank, while the funds travel separately through correspondent banks as an interbank transfer (MT 202 COV or pacs.009 COV). The cover message must carry payer and payee details so that intermediaries can screen them.
Swift (network)Swift is a cooperative, owned by its member institutions, that runs a secure messaging network for payment, securities and trade messages between banks and other institutions worldwide. Swift carries instructions only: it holds no accounts, and the money settles on the books of banks or in central bank systems. Members must meet its Customer Security Programme controls.
Remittance informationRemittance information is the data in a payment that tells the payee what the payment is for, such as invoice numbers. It can be unstructured free text (140 characters in SEPA) or structured, such as a creditor reference under ISO 11649 starting with RF. Good remittance data lets the payee match payments to invoices automatically.
pacs.008 (FI to FI customer credit transfer)pacs.008 is the ISO 20022 message one bank sends to another to move a customer credit transfer, carrying payer, payee, amount, charges and remittance information. It replaces the Swift MT 103 in cross-border payments and is also the core message of SEPA credit transfers, instant payments and high-value systems such as T2 and CHAPS.