Category 9: Cash management and customer status
MT942 Interim Transaction Report
Written and maintained by ZagTrader. Last reviewed . How this page is sourced and checked
The MT942 is the Swift MT intraday report: it lists the entries debited or credited to an account since the last statement or the last interim report, during the business day. The account servicing bank sends it to the account owner or to a bank the owner has authorised, at times agreed between them. Its ISO 20022 equivalent is camt.052.
When MT942 is used
Treasury and cash teams use the MT942 to see money moving on their accounts during the day instead of waiting for the end-of-day MT940. A broker can confirm that client deposits have arrived before releasing trades, a fund can see redemption proceeds land, and a treasurer can decide on sweeps or funding before cut-off times.
The report covers entries since the last statement or balance report, or since the previous interim report sent after that statement. How often it is sent (every hour, at fixed times, or on request with an MT920) is agreed with the bank. Field 21 carries the reference of the MT920 when the report answers a request.
Field 34F sets a floor limit: entries below the amount are left out. One 34F applies to debits and credits alike; when debits and credits need different limits, the first 34F carries D and the second carries C. A floor of zero reports everything.
The MT942 has no opening or closing balance fields. It reports entries and, optionally, the number and sum of debit entries (90D) and credit entries (90C). Depending on the bank and the agreement, the entries it reports may or may not count as booked or available funds yet, so the end-of-day statement stays the record for reconciliation.
MT942 format: sequences and fields
Message text (block 4)Mandatory
No lettered sequences. Fields 61 and 86 form a repeating loop, one pair per entry. Verified against the Category 9 Message Reference Guide for Standards MT November 2024.
| Tag | Name | Status | Format | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Transaction Reference Number | M | 16x | The sending bank’s reference for this message. No leading or trailing slash and no double slash. |
| 21 | Related Reference | O | 16x | Field 20 of the MT920 Request Message when this report answers a request. Absent on scheduled reports. |
| 25a | Account IdentificationOptions no letter or P | M | No letter: 35x P: 35x 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] | The account reported on. Option P adds the account owner’s BIC on a second line and is only used when the receiver is not the account owner. |
| 28C | Statement Number/Sequence Number | M | 5n[/5n] | Statement number and optional page number when one report needs several messages. The statement number should restart at 1 on 1 January. How interim reports are numbered against the day’s statement is set by each bank, so check its guide. |
| 34F | Debit/(Debit and Credit) Floor Limit Indicator | M | 3!a[1!a]15d | Currency, optional mark and amount of the smallest entry reported. Without a mark the limit applies to debits and credits; with D it applies to debits only and a second 34F with C must follow for credits. Example: USD0, reports everything. |
| 34F | Credit Floor Limit Indicator | C | 3!a[1!a]15d | Present only when credits have their own floor limit. The mark must then be C, and the first 34F must carry D. |
| 13D | Date/Time Indication | M | 6!n4!n1!x4!n | When the report was created: date YYMMDD, local time HHMM, a plus or minus sign and the offset from UTC as HHMM. For example 2610201300+0400 is 13:00 in Dubai on 20 October 2026. |
| 61 | Statement LineRepeatable | O | 6!n[4!n]2a[1!a]15d1!a3!c16x[//16x] [34x] | One entry, with the same layout as in the MT940: value date, optional entry date, mark, optional funds code, amount, transaction type (S, N or F plus three characters), reference for the account owner, // and the bank’s reference, supplementary details on a new line. In the MT942 the mark may also be EC (expected credit) or ED (expected debit), besides C, D, RC and RD. See field 61 explained. |
| 86 | Information to Account OwnerRepeatable | C | 6*65x | Details of the entry in the field 61 just before it, up to six lines of 65 characters, with the same codes as in the MT940 (/ORDP/, /BENM/, /REMI/, /CHGS/, /OCMT/, /EXCH/) and any bank-specific structure. |
| 90D | Number and Sum of Entries | O | 5n3!a15d | Number of debit entries, currency and total amount of the debit entries. |
| 90C | Number and Sum of Entries | O | 5n3!a15d | Number of credit entries, currency and total amount of the credit entries. |
| 86 | Information to Account Owner | O | 6*65x | Information about the report as a whole. If this last field 86 directly follows a field 61, it is read as the details of that entry instead. |
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
- Network rule C1 (error C27): the first two letters of the currency code must be the same in fields 34F, 90D and 90C.
- Network rule C2 (error C23): with one field 34F, its mark subfield must be empty. With two, the first must carry D and the second C.
- Network rule C3 (error C24): a field 86 in the loop must follow a field 61 and be in the same message as it. The final field 86 may stand without a field 61 before it.
- Field 13D: the time offset hours must be 00 to 13 and the minutes 00 to 59; the sign is + or -.
- Field 61 debit/credit marks in the MT942: C credit, D debit, EC expected credit, ED expected debit, RC reversal of credit (a debit entry), RD reversal of debit (a credit entry). The EC and ED marks are not available in the MT940 or MT950.
- Amounts in 34F, 61, 90D and 90C use a comma as decimal mark and must not have more decimals than the currency allows.
- Field 90D and 90C are totals for the report. They are not balances; add them to your own last known balance only if your bank confirms the reported entries are booked.
MT942 example
At 13:00 Dubai time on 20 October 2026, ZagTrader Test Bank (ZAGTAEADXXX) sends an interim report for a broker’s USD account to the broker’s main bank, BANKAEADXXX, which collects the broker’s account reports. Debits of USD 10,000 or more and all credits are reported. Two entries have been booked since the morning: an outgoing MT202 and an incoming client payment. The same entries appear later in the day’s MT940.
{1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I942BANKAEADXXXXN}{4:
:20:INTR261020USD03
:25P:AE070331234567890123456
BRKRAEADXXX
:28C:207/1
:34F:USDD10000,
:34F:USDC0,
:13D:2610201300+0400
:61:261020D480000,00S202BRK2610200017//ZAG26293000101
:86:/BENM/BRKRGB2LXXX
:61:261020C250000,00S103PAY2610200388//ZAG26293000102
:86:/ORDP/AL NOOR INVESTMENTS LLC
:90D:1USD480000,00
:90C:1USD250000,00
-}Decode this example in the parserLine by line
| Line | What it says |
|---|---|
| {1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I942BANKAEADXXXXN}{4: | Sender ZAGTAEADXXX, input MT942 to BANKAEADXXX, normal priority. |
| :20:INTR261020USD03 | Sender’s reference for this report. |
| :25P:AE070331234567890123456 | Option P because the receiver is not the account owner: the account (a test IBAN) ... |
| BRKRAEADXXX | ... and the BIC of the account owner. |
| :28C:207/1 | Statement number and page. |
| :34F:USDD10000, | Debit floor limit: debits below USD 10,000.00 are not reported. |
| :34F:USDC0, | Credit floor limit: zero, so every credit is reported. Two 34F fields: D first, then C. |
| :13D:2610201300+0400 | Created on 20 Oct 2026 at 13:00, UTC plus 4 hours. |
| :61:261020D480000,00S202BRK2610200017//ZAG26293000101 | Debit of USD 480,000.00 caused by the broker’s MT202 with reference BRK2610200017. |
| :86:/BENM/BRKRGB2LXXX | Beneficiary of the debit. |
| :61:261020C250000,00S103PAY2610200388//ZAG26293000102 | Credit of USD 250,000.00 received by MT103. |
| :86:/ORDP/AL NOOR INVESTMENTS LLC | Ordering party of the incoming payment. |
| :90D:1USD480000,00 | One debit entry, total USD 480,000.00. |
| :90C:1USD250000,00 | One credit entry, total USD 250,000.00. |
| -} | End of block 4. |
BICs, names, references and the IBAN are made up; the IBAN carries valid check digits.
The same report in ISO 20022 is the camt.052 example, which adds the interim booked and available balances the MT942 cannot carry.
Common errors and rejects
Two 34F fields in the wrong order or with the wrong mark (C23)
With separate limits the first 34F must carry D and the second C. A single 34F must have no mark at all. The network rejects anything else.
Currency mismatch between 34F, 90D and 90C (C27)
The first two letters of the currency code must match across these fields. Usually a template error when one report format is reused for accounts in several currencies.
Treating the MT942 as a balance report
The MT942 has no balance fields, and its entries may not yet be booked or available. Systems that roll an intraday position forward from 90D and 90C drift from the bank’s figures. Use the end-of-day MT940 for reconciliation, or ask for camt.052, which carries interim balances.
How to fix itEntries counted twice at end of day
Entries reported in one or more MT942s appear again in the MT940. Loading both into the same ledger without matching on the bank reference (subfield 8 of field 61) doubles them. Keep intraday entries as provisional and replace them with the statement.
How to fix itEC or ED marks not recognised
Expected credits and expected debits exist only in the MT942. A parser written for the MT940 may fail on them or post them as real movements. Treat them as information, not as bookings.
How to fix it
MT942 in ISO 20022
The ISO 20022 equivalent is camt.052 (Bank to Customer Account Report). CBPR+ uses camt.052.001.08 and recommends that every camt.052 with entries also carries the interim booked (ITBD) and interim available (ITAV) balances, which the MT942 cannot express.
Reporting messages were not part of the 22 November 2025 deadline for payment instructions and continue to be supported on Swift beyond it, so moving from MT942 to camt.052 is agreed with each bank.
There is no floor limit field in camt.052. Which entries a report includes is agreed with the bank or set in the request.
MT942 questions
- What is an MT942 used for?
- For intraday visibility: it tells the account owner which debits and credits have hit the account since the last statement or report, so cash can be managed before the end-of-day MT940 arrives.
- What is the difference between MT940 and MT942?
- The MT940 is the statement for a closed period with opening and closing balances. The MT942 is an interim report with entries since the last statement or report, a floor limit in 34F, a creation timestamp in 13D and totals in 90D and 90C, but no balances.
- What does field 34F mean in an MT942?
- It is the floor limit: entries below the amount are not reported. One 34F without a mark applies to both directions. Two 34F fields, the first marked D and the second C, set separate limits for debits and credits. A limit of zero, for example
USD0,, reports everything. - Does an MT942 contain a balance?
- No. It has no opening, closing or available balance fields. The ISO 20022 camt.052 can carry interim balances such as ITBD and ITAV.
- What are EC and ED in field 61 of an MT942?
- Expected credit and expected debit: entries the bank expects but that may not be booked yet. They are only allowed in the MT942.
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