Category 4: Collections and cash letters
MT420 Tracer
Written and maintained by ZagTrader. Last reviewed . How this page is sourced and checked
The MT420 is a tracer: the remitting bank asks the collecting bank about the fate of documents sent for collection. A collecting bank can also send it to another collecting bank. The answer comes back as an MT422 Advice of Fate and Request for Instructions.
- Message type
- MT420
- Category
- 4
- Status
- In the current standard
- ISO 20022
- No direct equivalent
What MT420 is used for
When the exporter has heard nothing about a collection, its bank traces it with an MT420, quoting the collecting bank’s reference (often field 20 of the MT410 acknowledgement) and the amount traced. Because the tracer is a specific function, the general query message MTn95 (MT495) should not be used for it.
Up to ten amounts can be traced in one message, all in the same currency.
- Sent by
- The remitting bank (or a collecting bank)
- Sent to
- The collecting bank
MT420 format: sequences and fields
Repetitive part (one per amount traced)Mandatory, repeatable
Repeated up to ten times (rule C1, error T10). The currency in 32a must be the same in every repetition (rule C2, error C02).
| Tag | Name | Status | Format | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Sending Bank’s TRN | M | 16x | The collection number given by the sender, the remitting bank. |
| 21 | Related Reference | M | 16x | The collecting bank’s collection number, for example field 20 of its MT410. |
| 32a | Amount TracedOptions A, B or K | M | A: 6!n3!a15d B: 3!a15d K: 1!a3!n2!a3!a15d | Maturity date (option A) or maturity period (option K), currency and the amount traced: the whole collection or one item of it. |
Closing fieldsMandatory
Appear once, after the repetitive part.
| Tag | Name | Status | Format | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Date of Collection Instruction | O | 6!n | Date of the collection instruction (YYMMDD). If it was amended, the date of the original instruction. |
| 59 | Drawee | C | [/34x] 4*35x | The drawee of the collection. The handbook marks it conditional. |
| 72 | Sender to Receiver Information | O | 6*35x | Additional information for the receiver. |
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).
ISO 20022
No ISO 20022 equivalent: Swift’s MT and MX equivalence table lists none for this message. Collection and cash letter messages in category 4 were not part of the CBPR+ migration of cross-border payment instructions and remain MT messages on Swift.
All MT messages · Category 4 messages · ISO 20022 messages · Codes · Troubleshooting