Swift gpi (global payments innovation) is Swift's service for cross-border payments in which banks report the status of each payment to a central tracker under its UETR, so the payment can be followed from the first bank to the last.

Where do I find the UETR of a payment?

In an MT103 or MT202 it is field 121 in block 3. In a pacs.008 or pacs.009 it is PmtId/UETR. Bank statements and payment confirmations often show it too. Your bank can give it to you for any payment it sent.

Can I track a payment myself with the UETR?

Only through a service that has access to a tracker, which your bank provides. This site checks the UETR format but has no access to any tracker.

What do ACSP and ACCC mean in a gpi status?

ACSP means a bank has accepted the payment and settlement is in progress, typically while it moves to the next bank. ACCC means the beneficiary's account has been credited.

Is the UETR the same in the MT103 and the MT202COV?

Yes. In a cover payment the MT202COV carries the UETR of the underlying MT103, so both legs are tracked as one payment.

Swift gpi and the UETR: how a payment is tracked from end to end

Written and maintained by ZagTrader. Last reviewed 21 October 2026. How this page is sourced and checked

Swift gpi tracks a cross-border payment by one reference, the UETR, which the first bank creates and every following bank passes on unchanged. Each bank reports what it did with the payment to the gpi Tracker under that UETR, so the sender, the banks in between and the beneficiary's bank can all see the same status.

The UETR: one reference for the whole chain

Every bank in a payment chain has its own references: the MT field 20 or the ISO 20022 instruction ID changes at each hop. The UETR (Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference) does not. It is a version 4 UUID of 36 characters, for example eb6305c9-1f7f-49de-aed0-16487c27b42d, created once by the bank that starts the payment.

Since November 2018 the UETR has been mandatory in block 3, field 121, of the MT103, MT202 and MT202COV and their variants. In ISO 20022 it sits in CdtTrfTxInf/PmtId/UETR of the pacs.008 and pacs.009, and status, return and cancellation messages refer to it in OrgnlUETR. In a cover payment, the MT202COV or pacs.009 COV carries the UETR of the underlying customer payment.

An MT103 with its UETR in block 3, field 121.

{1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I103BANKGB2LXXXXN}{3:{121:eb6305c9-1f7f-49de-aed0-16487c27b42d}}{4:
:20:ZT2610210007
:23B:CRED
:32A:261022USD25000,00
:50K:/AE070331234567890123456
GULF TRADING LLC
DUBAI
:59:/GB29NWBK60161331926819
ACME COMPONENTS LTD
LONDON
:71A:SHA
-}

Open this example in the parser

How the tracker works

A tracker is a central record of each payment, keyed by UETR. In ISO 20022 the messages for it are defined in the transaction tracker business area: trck.001 Payment Status Tracker Update, sent by a bank to the tracking facility, and trck.002 Payment Status Tracker Report and trck.004 Payment Status Customer Tracker Report, sent by the tracking facility to the parties involved.

Each bank that receives the payment reports its status to the gpi Tracker. The statuses use the ISO 20022 payment transaction status codes:

Status	Name	What it tells you
ACSP	Accepted Settlement In Process	A bank has accepted the payment and is processing it; it may be passing it on to the next bank
ACCC	Accepted Settlement Completed Creditor Account	The beneficiary's account has been credited
RJCT	Rejected	A bank rejected the payment; a reason code says why

Stop and recall

When a payment must be stopped (sent twice, wrong amount, fraud), the sending bank asks for it to be cancelled by its UETR. In MT this was an MT192; in ISO 20022 it is a camt.056 with a cancellation reason code such as DUPL, FRAD or CUST. The bank holding the payment answers with an MT196 or a camt.029.

Under gpi, the stop and recall request is sent to the gpi Tracker with the payment's UETR, rather than only to the next bank in the chain. Funds that have already been credited usually come back only with the beneficiary's agreement, in a pacs.004 return with reason FOCR.

Using the UETR in daily operations

Store the UETR of every outgoing and incoming payment next to your own reference. It is the one value every bank in the chain will recognise.
When a customer asks where a payment is, ask your bank for the tracker status of the UETR. Your bank sees the status reported by each bank in the chain.
When a payment is rejected or returned, match the pacs.002 or pacs.004 to the original by OrgnlUETR, not by amount.
Never reuse a UETR. A new payment, even one that repairs a rejected one, gets a new UETR.
Check the format before sending with the UETR checker: lower case, 36 characters, version 4.

Questions

What is Swift gpi?: Swift gpi (global payments innovation) is Swift's service for cross-border payments in which banks report the status of each payment to a central tracker under its UETR, so the payment can be followed from the first bank to the last.
Where do I find the UETR of a payment?: In an MT103 or MT202 it is field 121 in block 3. In a pacs.008 or pacs.009 it is PmtId/UETR. Bank statements and payment confirmations often show it too. Your bank can give it to you for any payment it sent.
Can I track a payment myself with the UETR?: Only through a service that has access to a tracker, which your bank provides. This site checks the UETR format but has no access to any tracker.
What do ACSP and ACCC mean in a gpi status?: ACSP means a bank has accepted the payment and settlement is in progress, typically while it moves to the next bank. ACCC means the beneficiary's account has been credited.
Is the UETR the same in the MT103 and the MT202COV?: Yes. In a cover payment the MT202COV carries the UETR of the underlying MT103, so both legs are tracked as one payment.

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