It is the Advice of Payment for collections: the collecting bank tells the remitting bank that the drawee has paid, how much was collected, what was deducted or added, and how and when the net proceeds are remitted.

Who sends an MT400 and who receives it?

Normally the collecting bank (the bank in the buyer’s country) sends it to the remitting bank (the exporter’s bank). It can also be sent by a branch or affiliate of the collecting bank, or between two collecting banks.

What is the difference between MT400 and MT754?

The MT400 belongs to documentary collections under URC 522, where no bank has promised to pay. The MT754 belongs to documentary credits under UCP 600 and reports that a nominated bank has paid, accepted or negotiated complying documents.

What is the difference between MT400 and MT410?

The MT410 acknowledges that the collecting bank has received the collection. The MT400 comes later, when the drawee has paid and the proceeds are remitted.

What do 32A, 32B and 32K mean in an MT400?

32A gives a fixed maturity date, 32B no maturity date (for example payment at sight), and 32K a maturity period such as 60 days after sight, coded as D060ST before the currency and amount.

Does the MT400 move the money?

It advises the proceeds and settles them over the existing account relationship unless it says otherwise. When funds go through correspondents, the collecting bank sends a separate bank-to-bank transfer.

Category 4: Collections and cash letters

MT400 Advice of Payment

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

The MT400 is the Swift message a collecting bank sends to the remitting bank to advise that the drawee has paid under a documentary or clean collection, in full or in part. It states the amount collected, the charges deducted or amounts added, and the net proceeds remitted with their value date. It is a category 4 collections message, used under the ICC Uniform Rules for Collections (URC 522).

Message type: MT400
Category: 4
Structure: 12 fields listed
ISO 20022: No direct equivalent

When MT400 is used

A documentary collection is simpler than a letter of credit: no bank promises to pay. The exporter (the principal or drawer) hands its shipping documents, often with a bill of exchange, to its own bank, the remitting bank, with a collection instruction. The remitting bank sends them to a bank in the buyer’s country, the collecting bank, which presents them to the buyer (the drawee), itself or through a presenting bank. Under documents against payment (D/P) the drawee gets the documents only when it pays; under documents against acceptance (D/A) it gets them when it accepts a draft and pays at maturity.

When the drawee pays, the collecting bank must tell the remitting bank without delay how much it collected, what it deducted and how it is sending the money: that is the advice of payment URC 522 asks for, and the MT400 is its Swift form. The collecting bank first sends an MT410 to acknowledge receipt of the collection. If the drawee accepts a draft it sends an MT412, and if the drawee refuses to pay or accept it sends an MT416. The MT400 comes at the end, when money has been received.

Field 32a is the amount the drawee paid, with the maturity as the collection instruction gave it: option A for a fixed maturity date, option B when no maturity date is known (for example a sight D/P collection), option K for a period such as 60 days after sight. Field 71B lists deductions (the collecting bank’s commission, postage, stamp duty), field 73 lists amounts added (interest, the remitting bank’s charges collected from the drawee), and field 33A gives the net proceeds and their value date. As a rule 33A equals 32a plus 73 minus 71B.

The MT400 also settles the proceeds. Unless the message says otherwise, the account relationship between the two banks is used: the collecting bank credits the remitting bank’s account, or the remitting bank debits the collecting bank’s account. Where the money travels through correspondents, fields 53a, 54a and 57a describe the route, and the collecting bank sends the bank-to-bank transfer separately. On Swift that transfer is now a pacs.009; the standard tells banks to use the financial institution transfer, not the MT400, towards a bank that acts only as a reimbursement bank.

The message can also be sent by a branch or affiliate of the collecting bank on its behalf (named in field 52a), and to a branch or affiliate of the remitting bank (named in field 58a), or between two collecting banks when a collection passes through more than one bank.

MT400 format: sequences and fields

Message text (block 4)Mandatory

The MT400 has no sequences: block 4 is a single list of fields, one occurrence each, in the order of the SR 2025 structure.

Tag	Name	Status	Format	Meaning
20	Sending Bank's TRN	M	16x	The collection number given by the sender, the collecting bank. It must not start or end with a slash or contain two slashes in a row.
21	Related Reference	M	16x	The receiver’s collection number, as given in its collection instruction. If it is too long for the field, the code SEE72 is used here and the reference goes in field 72.
32a	Amount CollectedOptions A, B or K	M	A: 6!n3!a15d B: 3!a15d K: 1!a3!n2!a3!a15d	The principal paid or to be paid by the drawee, with the maturity from the collection instruction. Option A: fixed maturity date (YYMMDD), currency and amount. Option B: currency and amount, when the maturity date is not known. Option K: maturity as a period, made of D (days) or M (months), a three-digit number, a two-letter code (see the rules below), then currency and amount, for example `D060STUSD50000,00` for 60 days after sight.
33A	Proceeds Remitted	M	6!n3!a15d	The value date, currency and net amount remitted to the receiver. Normally the amount in 32a plus amounts in 73, minus deductions in 71B.
52a	Ordering BankOptions A or D	O	A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x	The collecting branch or affiliate on whose behalf the message is sent. It must be a branch or affiliate of the sender.
53a	Sender's CorrespondentOptions A, B or D	O	A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] B: [/1!a][/34x] [35x] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x	Where needed, the account or branch of the sender, or another bank, through which the sender provides the proceeds to the receiver.
54a	Receiver's CorrespondentOptions A, B or D	O	A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] B: [/1!a][/34x] [35x] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x	Where needed, the branch of the receiver, or another bank, at which the proceeds will be made available to the receiver.
57a	Account With BankOptions A or D	C	A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x	Used only when the funds reach the receiver through a bank other than the one in 54a: the bank in 54a passes them on to this bank. Allowed only when 53a and 54a are both present. The same bank then appears in field 57a of the sender’s bank-to-bank transfer.
58a	Beneficiary BankOptions A, B or D	O	A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] B: [/1!a][/34x] [35x] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x	The receiver’s branch or affiliate that started the collection and is to be credited with the proceeds.
71B	Details of Charges	O	6*35x	Deductions from the amount collected, one per line as a code between slashes followed by currency and amount, for example `/COMM/USD130,00`. Only deductions in the currency of the collection go here; others are explained in field 72.
72	Sender to Receiver Information	O	6*35x	Additional information for the receiver. Codes include ALCHAREF (drawee refused all charges), OUCHAREF (drawee refused our charges), UCHAREF (drawee refused your charges), REC (instructions for the receiver), BNF (information for the beneficiary), PHONBEN and TELEBEN (how to advise the beneficiary).
73	Details of Amounts Added	O	6*35x	Amounts added to the principal, in the currency of the collection, such as /INTEREST/ (interest collected), /RETCOMM/ (return commission given by the collecting bank) or /YOURCHAR/ (the remitting bank’s charges collected from the drawee), each followed by the amount.

Format notation: n digits, a upper-case letters, c upper-case letters and digits, x any character of the Swift character set, d a decimal number with a comma, ! fixed length, [ ] optional, 4*35x up to 4 lines of 35 characters. M mandatory, O optional, C conditional (a rule decides).

Rules worth knowing

Field 57a may be present only when 53a and 54a are both present (rule C1 in the handbook, error code C11).
The currency in 32a and 33A must be the same (error C02).
In 32a option K, the first character is D (period in days) or M (period in months) (error T61), and the two-letter code is one of BE (after date of bill of exchange), CC (after customs clearance of goods), FD (after the goods pass food and drug administration), FP (first presentation), GA (after arrival of goods), ID (after invoice date), ST (after sight), TD (after date of transport documents) or XX (explained in field 72) (error T20).
Traditional collection terms such as primo or ultimo are written as a date with option A.
Field 71B and field 73 carry only amounts in the currency of the collection. Charges or additions in another currency are explained in field 72.
The MT400 must never be sent to a bank that acts only as a reimbursement bank; that bank receives a financial institution transfer instead.
Fields 20 and 21 must not start or end with a slash and must not contain two consecutive slashes (error T26).

MT400 example

Acme Components Ltd in London ships goods to Gulf Trading LLC in Dubai on documents against payment terms. Its bank, BANKGB2LXXX, sends the documents to ZagTrader Test Bank, Dubai (ZAGTAEADXXX) under collection number BGLC2610050088. The drawee pays USD 85,000.00 at sight. On 22 October 2026 the collecting bank deducts its USD 130.00 commission, pays the net proceeds through its New York branch ZAGTUS33XXX to the remitting bank’s correspondent BANKUS33XXX, and advises the remitting bank with this MT400.

{1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I400BANKGB2LXXXXN}{4:
:20:ZTC2610200015
:21:BGLC2610050088
:32B:USD85000,00
:33A:261022USD84870,00
:53A:ZAGTUS33XXX
:54A:BANKUS33XXX
:71B:/COMM/USD130,00
:72:DOCUMENTS RELEASED TO DRAWEE
AGAINST PAYMENT ON 21 OCTOBER 2026
-}

Decode this example in the parser

Line by line

Line	What it says
{1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I400BANKGB2LXXXXN}{4:	Sender ZAGTAEADXXX (collecting bank), receiver BANKGB2LXXX (remitting bank).
:20:ZTC2610200015	The collecting bank’s collection number.
:21:BGLC2610050088	The remitting bank’s collection number from its instruction.
:32B:USD85000,00	Amount collected. Option B: payment at sight, no maturity date.
:33A:261022USD84870,00	Net proceeds and value date: 85,000.00 minus 130.00.
:53A:ZAGTUS33XXX	Proceeds provided through the sender’s New York branch...
:54A:BANKUS33XXX	...and made available to the receiver at its New York correspondent.
:71B:/COMM/USD130,00	Collecting bank’s commission deducted.
:72:DOCUMENTS RELEASED TO DRAWEE	Free text for the receiver (no code needed).
AGAINST PAYMENT ON 21 OCTOBER 2026
-}	End of block 4.

The BICs, names and references are made up.

The USD transfer from ZAGTUS33XXX to BANKUS33XXX is a separate bank-to-bank payment, a pacs.009 on Swift today.

For a D/A collection maturing 60 days after sight, 32a would use option K, for example :32K:D060STUSD85000,00.

Common errors and rejects

57a without both 53a and 54a (C11)
Field 57a describes a further hop after the receiver’s correspondent, so it only makes sense when 53a and 54a are both given. Either add the correspondents or remove 57a and rely on the direct account relationship.
Currency in 33A differs from 32a (C02)
The proceeds must be remitted in the currency of the collection. If the remitting bank asked for another currency, settle that bilaterally and explain it in 72.
Wrong code in 32K
Option K takes D or M, a three-digit number and one of the codes BE, CC, FD, FP, GA, ID, ST, TD or XX. D60ST... (two digits) or a code such as AS for after sight is rejected.
33A does not add up
Not a network reject, but the receiver checks it: 33A should equal 32a plus 73 minus 71B. A deduction in another currency that is only described in 72 leaves an unexplained gap; state the conversion.
MT400 used as the payment itself
The MT400 advises the payment and the proceeds. It does not instruct a third bank to move money. Send the bank-to-bank transfer separately, and never send an MT400 to a bank acting only as a reimbursement bank.
Amount format
Amounts need a comma as decimal mark and no more decimals than the currency allows: USD85000,00, not USD85,000.00.
How to fix it

ISO 20022

There is no ISO 20022 equivalent of the MT400: Swift’s MT and MX equivalence tables (May 2024 edition) list none for it. Collections (category 4) were not part of the CBPR+ migration that ended MT/MX coexistence for cross-border payment instructions on 22 November 2025, so collection advices are still exchanged in MT format.

The proceeds are a different matter. The bank-to-bank transfer that moves the money is a payment instruction, and on Swift it is now a pacs.009 rather than an MT202. An MT202 still sent is converted by Swift contingency processing, charged since 1 January 2026.

MT400 questions

What is an MT400?: It is the Advice of Payment for collections: the collecting bank tells the remitting bank that the drawee has paid, how much was collected, what was deducted or added, and how and when the net proceeds are remitted.
Who sends an MT400 and who receives it?: Normally the collecting bank (the bank in the buyer’s country) sends it to the remitting bank (the exporter’s bank). It can also be sent by a branch or affiliate of the collecting bank, or between two collecting banks.
What is the difference between MT400 and MT754?: The MT400 belongs to documentary collections under URC 522, where no bank has promised to pay. The MT754 belongs to documentary credits under UCP 600 and reports that a nominated bank has paid, accepted or negotiated complying documents.
What is the difference between MT400 and MT410?: The MT410 acknowledges that the collecting bank has received the collection. The MT400 comes later, when the drawee has paid and the proceeds are remitted.
What do 32A, 32B and 32K mean in an MT400?: 32A gives a fixed maturity date, 32B no maturity date (for example payment at sight), and 32K a maturity period such as 60 days after sight, coded as D060ST before the currency and amount.
Does the MT400 move the money?: It advises the proceeds and settles them over the existing account relationship unless it says otherwise. When funds go through correspondents, the collecting bank sends a separate bank-to-bank transfer.

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