MT710 Advice of a Third Bank's or a Non-Bank's Documentary Credit

When MT710 is used

An issuing bank often has no relationship with the beneficiary’s bank. It sends its MT700 to a correspondent it does have keys with, the first advising bank, and names the beneficiary’s bank in field 57a (Advise Through). The first advising bank checks the credit and then advises it onwards in an MT710 to that second bank, which advises the beneficiary. The MT710 is therefore a copy of the credit terms with the chain made explicit: field 21 is the issuing bank’s credit number, field 20 is the sender’s own reference, and field 52a names the issuing bank, or 50B names the issuer when it is not a bank.

Field 40B has two lines. The first is the form of credit (IRREVOCABLE or IRREVOCABLE TRANSFERABLE). The second says whether the sender, the first advising bank, is adding its confirmation: ADDING OUR CONFIRMATION or WITHOUT OUR CONFIRMATION. Field 49 still carries the issuing bank’s own confirmation instructions to the requested confirmation party (CONFIRM, MAY ADD or WITHOUT), so the two fields answer different questions: what the issuer asked, and what the sender did.

Under UCP 600 article 9 an advising bank that advises a credit signals that it is satisfied the credit is apparent authentic and that the advice reflects the terms received, and a second advising bank takes on the same check for the advice it receives. That is why the sender must pass on the credit in full and in a way that is clear to the beneficiary, and why the second bank should not receive the credit by any route other than an authenticated message.

The MT710 is also used for credits issued by a non-bank, which is then named in 50B instead of an issuing bank in 52a. Field 78D, added in the 2023 release, holds instructions from the intermediary bank (the sender) to the receiver, separate from the issuing bank’s own instructions in 78.

Credits too long for one message continue in one or more MT711 messages with the same references. Amendments to a credit advised this way come down the same chain in MT707 messages, each bank naming the issuing bank in 52a. A transferable credit that the beneficiary wants to pass to its supplier is transferred with the MT720, not the MT710.

MT710 format: sequences and fields

Rules worth knowing

• Either 52a (issuing bank) or 50B (non-bank issuer) identifies the issuer, not both. For a credit issued by a non-bank, 50B is used.
• Drafts and payment details: 42C and 42a go together; the credit carries either 42C with 42a, or 42M alone, or 42P alone (error C90).
• Shipment: either 44C (latest date) or 44D (shipment period), not both (error D06).
• Long credits continue in one or more MT711 messages. Information in a field of the MT710 must not be repeated in an MT711, and nothing in an MT711 may conflict with it.
• For a freely negotiable credit that the receiver does not pass on further, the advice to the beneficiary must say that it has to be presented at each negotiation and that each negotiating bank notes the negotiation on it.
• Banks should name parties by BIC rather than words such as “us” or “you”: in a chain of three banks these words are easily misread.
• Since SR2018 field 31C is mandatory, 39B and 71B are gone (71D replaces 71B) and 72Z replaces 72; 78D was added in the November 2023 release.

MT710 example

Lakeside Packaging Inc in Chicago buys 40 tonnes of plastic granules from Gulf Polymers FZE in Jebel Ali. Its bank, BANKUS33XXX, issues a credit for USD 180,000.00 and sends the MT700 to ZagTrader Test Bank (ZAGTAEADXXX), asking it to advise through the beneficiary’s bank BANKAEADXXX. ZagTrader advises the credit onwards in an MT710, without adding its confirmation, and asks BANKAEADXXX to send the documents to it, as the nominated bank, for payment.

{1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I710BANKAEADXXXXN}{4:
:27:1/1
:40B:IRREVOCABLE
WITHOUT OUR CONFIRMATION
:20:ZTADV2610220003
:21:LC26US00789
:31C:261019
:40E:UCP LATEST VERSION
:31D:270115DUBAI
:52A:BANKUS33XXX
:50:LAKESIDE PACKAGING INC
200 LAKE STREET
CHICAGO IL, USA
:59:/AE070331234567890123456
GULF POLYMERS FZE
JEBEL ALI FREE ZONE
DUBAI, UAE
:32B:USD180000,00
:41A:ZAGTAEADXXX
BY PAYMENT
:43P:NOT ALLOWED
:43T:ALLOWED
:44E:JEBEL ALI, UAE
:44F:NEW YORK, USA
:44C:261205
:45A:+40 METRIC TONNES HDPE GRANULES GRADE ZP-55
+CFR NEW YORK INCOTERMS 2020
:46A:+SIGNED COMMERCIAL INVOICE IN 3 ORIGINALS
+FULL SET OF CLEAN ON BOARD OCEAN BILLS OF LADING MADE OUT
TO ORDER AND BLANK ENDORSED, MARKED FREIGHT PREPAID
+CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN
:71D:ALL BANKING CHARGES OUTSIDE THE
USA ARE FOR BENEFICIARY ACCOUNT
:48:21
:49:WITHOUT
:78:+DOCUMENTS TO BE SENT TO BANKUS33XXX IN ONE LOT BY COURIER
+REIMBURSEMENT AS PER INSTRUCTIONS OF THE NOMINATED BANK
:78D:+PLEASE PRESENT DOCUMENTS TO US FOR PAYMENT QUOTING
OUR REFERENCE ZTADV2610220003
-}

Line by line

The BICs, names, references and the IBAN are made up; the IBAN has valid check digits.

Had ZagTrader added its confirmation, line 2 of 40B would read ADDING OUR CONFIRMATION and the issuing bank’s field 49 would normally have been CONFIRM or MAY ADD with ZagTrader named in 58a.

Common errors and rejects

1. Issuing bank and non-bank issuer both present, or neither

   52a and 50B are alternatives. Name the issuing bank in 52a when a bank issued the credit, or the issuer in 50B when it is not a bank; do not leave the issuer out, because the receiver must know whose credit it is.

2. Line 2 of 40B missing or free text

   40B needs both lines, and line 2 must be exactly ADDING OUR CONFIRMATION or WITHOUT OUR CONFIRMATION. Text such as “CONFIRMED BY US” is rejected.

3. Drafts and payment details in the wrong combination (C90)

   As in the MT700: 42C with 42a, or 42M alone, or 42P alone. A credit copied from an MT700 with 42C but without 42a fails here too.

4. Both 44C and 44D present (D06)

   Keep either the latest shipment date or the shipment period, as in the original credit.

5. Issuing bank’s credit number in field 20

   Field 20 is the sender’s own reference; the issuing bank’s number goes in 21. Swapping them breaks the matching of later amendments and of the documents at every bank in the chain.

6. Amount format in 32B

   Comma as the decimal mark, no thousands separators: USD180000,00.

   How to fix it

ISO 20022

Swift’s MT and MX equivalence table (May 2024) gives no ISO 20022 equivalent for the MT710, as for every documentary credit message. Category 7 trade messages were not part of the November 2025 move of payment instructions to ISO 20022 and are still exchanged in MT format.

The payment at the end of the chain, when the nominated bank pays the beneficiary and claims reimbursement, travels in ISO 20022 payment messages such as pacs.009.

Related messages

• MT700Issue of a Documentary Credit
• MT711Advice of a Third Bank's or a Non-Bank's Documentary Credit
• MT707Amendment to a Documentary Credit
• MT720Transfer of a Documentary Credit
• MT730Acknowledgement
• MT799Free Format Message

MT710 questions

What is an MT710?

It is the Swift message an advising bank uses to pass a documentary credit issued by another bank, or by a non-bank, on to a second bank, usually the beneficiary’s bank. It carries the full terms of the credit and says whether the sender adds its confirmation.

What is the difference between MT700 and MT710?

The issuing bank sends the MT700 to issue the credit. The MT710 is sent later in the chain by an advising bank that received the credit and passes it on. Its field 21 holds the issuing bank’s credit number and 52a names the issuing bank.

What is the difference between MT710 and MT720?

The MT710 advises the same credit to another bank for the same beneficiary. The MT720 transfers a transferable credit, in whole or in part, to a second beneficiary, often on changed terms such as a lower amount.

What is an MT711?

The MT711 is the continuation of an MT710 when the goods description, documents, conditions or special payment conditions do not fit in one message.

What does WITHOUT OUR CONFIRMATION in field 40B mean?

That the bank sending the MT710 advises the credit without adding its own undertaking to pay. The beneficiary then relies on the issuing bank alone, unless another bank confirms.