A confirmation from the bank that keeps an account to the account owner that the account has been debited. It quotes the instruction that caused the debit, the account, value date and amount.

Who sends an MT900 and to whom?

The account servicing institution sends it to the account owner, or to a party the owner has authorised. Typically a correspondent bank sends it to the bank that holds a nostro account with it.

What is the difference between MT900 and MT910?

The MT900 confirms a debit; the MT910 confirms a credit. Both come from the account servicer and are confirmed later on the statement.

Do I need an MT900 if I get an MT950?

Usually not. The MT950 statement shows the same debit. The MT900 is useful when you need to know about the debit during the day, for example for cash positioning or to close an investigation quickly.

What is the ISO 20022 equivalent of MT900?

camt.054, Bank to Customer Debit Credit Notification, with the entry marked as a debit (DBIT).

Category 9: Cash management and customer status

MT900 Confirmation of Debit

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

The MT900 is the message an account servicing institution sends to tell the account owner that it has debited the owner’s account, typically a bank confirming to a correspondent that a payment out of its nostro account has been booked. It quotes the reference of the instruction that caused the debit, the account, the value date and the amount. Its ISO 20022 equivalent is the debit notification in camt.054.

Message type: MT900
Category: 9
Structure: 7 fields listed
ISO 20022: camt.054

When MT900 is used

The sender is the institution that keeps the account (the account servicing institution) and the receiver is the account owner, or a party the owner has authorised to receive the information. A concentrating institution that collects account information for the owner can also send it.

A typical case: a bank sends an MT202 or MT202COV to its USD correspondent. When the correspondent executes the payment and debits the bank’s USD nostro account, it sends an MT900 so the bank can see the debit the same day, before the end-of-day statement.

An MT900 is a confirmation, not an instruction: the account owner does not book anything because of it. It is mainly used for intraday reconciliation, cash positioning and investigations, and the entry is confirmed later on the statement (MT940 or MT950). Banks that already send frequent statements usually do not send MT900s for the same account.

Field 21 is the key for matching: it carries the reference of the transaction that caused the debit, for example field 20 of the payment instruction the account owner sent.

MT900 format: sequences and fields

Message text (block 4)Mandatory

No sequences. The MT900 has no network validated rules across fields.

Tag	Name	Status	Format	Meaning
20	Transaction Reference Number	M	16x	The account servicer’s own reference for this confirmation. No leading or trailing slash and no double slash.
21	Related Reference	M	16x	The reference of the transaction that caused the debit, for example field 20 of the payment instruction the account owner sent. This is what the account owner matches on.
25	Account IdentificationOptions no letter or P	M	No letter: 35x P: 35x 4!a2!a2!c[3!c]	The account that was debited (the standard writes the tag as 25a: field 25 without a letter, or 25P). Option P adds the BIC of the account owner and is used only when the receiver of the MT900 is not the account owner itself.
13D	Date/Time Indication	O	6!n4!n1!x4!n	When the debit was posted in the account servicer’s books: date (YYMMDD), local time (HHMM), sign and offset from UTC, for example `2610220930-0400`.
32A	Value Date, Currency Code, Amount	M	6!n3!a15d	Value date, currency and amount of the debit, with a comma as the decimal mark. See how to read 32A.
52a	Ordering InstitutionOptions A or D	O	A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x	The institution that instructed the account servicer to make the debit, when it is not the receiver of the MT900 (for example a third party debiting the account under an agreement). Option A is preferred; option D only when there is no BIC.
72	Sender to Receiver Information	O	6*35x	Additional information only, never instructions. Codes agreed between the two banks can be used in the structured `/8c/` form, and EXCH can carry an exchange rate.

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

There are no network validated rules across fields in the MT900.
Option P of field 25a is used only when the receiver of the message is not the account owner.
In field 13D the time offset hour must be 00 to 13 and the minutes 00 to 59 (T16); the date and time must be valid (T50, T38).
The MT900 does not normally lead to any booking by the receiver: it confirms a debit already made. The entry also appears on the next statement.
Field 72 may contain information only; no instructions.

MT900 example

ZagTrader Test Bank, Dubai (ZAGTAEADXXX), sent its USD correspondent BANKUS33XXX in New York an MT202COV (reference ZT2610200058) to cover a customer payment of USD 48,500.00. BANKUS33 executes it on 22 October 2026, debits ZagTrader’s USD account and confirms the debit with an MT900.

{1:F01BANKUS33AXXX0000000000}{2:I900ZAGTAEADXXXXN}{4:
:20:D2610220004512
:21:ZT2610200058
:25:0012345678
:13D:2610220930-0400
:32A:261022USD48500,00
-}

Decode this example in the parser

Line by line

Line	What it says
{1:F01BANKUS33AXXX0000000000}{2:I900ZAGTAEADXXXXN}{4:	Sender BANKUS33XXX (the account servicer), input MT900 to ZAGTAEADXXX (the account owner).
:20:D2610220004512	BANKUS33’s reference for this confirmation.
:21:ZT2610200058	Field 20 of ZagTrader’s MT202COV: the instruction that caused the debit. ZagTrader matches on this.
:25:0012345678	ZagTrader’s USD account with BANKUS33 (no letter option, since ZagTrader owns the account).
:13D:2610220930-0400	Posted on 22 October 2026 at 09:30 New York time, UTC minus 4 hours.
:32A:261022USD48500,00	Value date, currency and amount debited.
-}	End of block 4.

BICs, account number and references are made up.

Common errors and rejects

Field 21 does not match any outgoing instruction
The account servicer put its own reference, or the end-to-end reference of a translated ISO 20022 payment, in field 21. Match on amount, value date and account, then ask the servicer which reference it uses. Quote the UETR when you raise it.
How to fix it
Debit confirmed but missing from the statement
An MT900 is sent during the day; the entry should then appear in the MT950 or MT940 for that value date. If it does not, the debit may have been booked with another value date or reversed. Check the next statement before chasing.
How to fix it
Invalid time offset in 13D (T16)
The offset is HHMM from UTC with an hour from 00 to 13. A 24-hour local time written into the offset part is rejected.
Option P used to the account owner
25P is for a receiver that is not the account owner, such as a party authorised to receive the information. When you confirm to the owner itself, use field 25 without a letter.
Amount format in 32A
Comma as decimal mark, at least one digit before it, no more decimals than the currency allows.
How to fix it

MT900 in ISO 20022

The ISO 20022 equivalent is camt.054 (Bank to Customer Debit Credit Notification) with an entry whose credit or debit indicator is DBIT. It can carry the UETR, the end-to-end identification and the full parties of the underlying payment, which an MT900 has no room for.

The November 2025 end of coexistence covered payment instructions, not reporting: MT9xx confirmations and statements continue to be supported on Swift, alongside the camt reporting messages. Public summaries of Swift’s CBPR+ roadmap say banks should be able to receive camt reporting messages by November 2027; check current Swift and correspondent notices for later steps.

If you receive a camt.054 from one correspondent and MT900s from another, map both into the same reconciliation keys: account, value date, amount and the reference of your own instruction. See camt.053 versus MT940 for the statement side.

MT900 questions

What is an MT900?: A confirmation from the bank that keeps an account to the account owner that the account has been debited. It quotes the instruction that caused the debit, the account, value date and amount.
Who sends an MT900 and to whom?: The account servicing institution sends it to the account owner, or to a party the owner has authorised. Typically a correspondent bank sends it to the bank that holds a nostro account with it.
What is the difference between MT900 and MT910?: The MT900 confirms a debit; the MT910 confirms a credit. Both come from the account servicer and are confirmed later on the statement.
Do I need an MT900 if I get an MT950?: Usually not. The MT950 statement shows the same debit. The MT900 is useful when you need to know about the debit during the day, for example for cash positioning or to close an investigation quickly.
What is the ISO 20022 equivalent of MT900?: camt.054, Bank to Customer Debit Credit Notification, with the entry marked as a debit (DBIT).

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