What does 6!n3!a15d mean?

Exactly 6 digits (the date YYMMDD), exactly 3 letters (the currency code), then an amount of up to 15 characters made of digits and one decimal comma. The ! means fixed length; d means a decimal number with a comma.

Why is my 32A amount rejected when it looks right?

Usually a dot instead of a comma, a missing comma on a whole amount, a thousands separator, or more decimals than the currency allows. 25000,00 and 25000, are valid for GBP; 25000.00 and 25000 are not.

How many decimals can I use for JPY or KWD?

The ISO 4217 minor units apply: JPY none (1500000,), KWD three (1250,750). Fewer decimals are allowed, more are rejected with C03.

Is the 32A date the date the beneficiary is credited?

It is the interbank value date: when the Receiver gets value. The beneficiary is normally credited on or after it, depending on the beneficiary bank and the cut-off times.

What is the ISO 20022 equivalent of field 32A?

IntrBkSttlmDt for the date and IntrBkSttlmAmt with its Ccy attribute for currency and amount, at transaction level in pacs.008 and pacs.009. The amount uses a dot as decimal mark in XML.

Payments

How do I read field 32A (value date, currency, amount)?

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

Field 32A packs three things into one line with no separators: the value date as YYMMDD, the three-letter ISO currency code and the amount with a comma as the decimal mark, for example :32A:261022GBP25000,00. It is the amount and date that settle between the banks in an MT103, MT202 and MT202 COV. In ISO 20022 the same data sits in IntrBkSttlmDt and IntrBkSttlmAmt with its Ccy attribute.

What it means

The format is 6!n3!a15d. 6!n is exactly six digits: the date as YYMMDD, so 261022 is 22 October 2026. 3!a is exactly three letters: the ISO 4217 currency code. 15d is the amount: up to 15 characters of digits and one decimal comma, and the comma counts towards the 15. Nothing separates the three parts; a reader splits them by position.

The amount rules are strict. The comma is mandatory, even for a whole amount (25000, is valid). There must be at least one digit before the comma (0,50, not ,50). There are no thousands separators, no dots, no spaces and no sign. The number of digits after the comma may be fewer than the currency allows but never more: JPY and KRW take none, USD, EUR, GBP and AED two, KWD, BHD and OMR three (ISO 4217 minor units).

In an MT103, 32A is the interbank settled amount: what the Receiver is credited between banks, after any charges taken (71F) or added (71G) and after any currency conversion. The amount the customer asked to send is in 33B. The two are linked: 33B, converted at the rate in 36, plus 71G, minus each 71F, equals 32A. In an MT202 and MT202COV, 32A is the amount and value date of the bank-to-bank transfer; in the MT202 COV the underlying customer’s instructed amount, if given, is in 33B of sequence B.

The date in 32A is the value date: the date the funds are to be available to the Receiver between banks. It is not the date the message was sent or the date the beneficiary sees the credit. In MT900 and MT910 confirmations the same 6!n3!a15d layout gives the value date and amount of the debit or credit being confirmed.

In pacs.008 and pacs.009 the parts are separate elements: CdtTrfTxInf/IntrBkSttlmDt holds the date as 2026-10-22, and CdtTrfTxInf/IntrBkSttlmAmt holds the amount with a dot as decimal mark and the currency as an attribute: <IntrBkSttlmAmt Ccy="GBP">25000.00</IntrBkSttlmAmt>. The 33B equivalent is InstdAmt and the rate in 36 is XchgRate. The XML schema allows up to 18 digits with 5 decimals and does not check decimals per currency, so a value with more decimals than the currency has can pass the schema and still fail when translated to MT.

Common causes

A dot as decimal mark (25000.00) or a thousands separator (25,000.00): the system formatted the amount for display, not for Swift. Error codes T43 or T40.
No decimal comma at all (25000). The comma is mandatory even for whole amounts.
More decimals than the currency allows, for example 1500000,00 in JPY or four decimals in USD. Error code C03.
The date written as YYYYMMDD or DDMMYY, or a date that does not exist such as 261131. Error code T50.
A currency code that is not ISO 4217 (for example DHS or RMB). Error code T52.
An amount longer than 15 characters including the comma.
Precious metal codes (XAU, XAG, XPD, XPT) in an MT103, which must use category 6 messages instead. Error code C08.
After an MX to MT translation: an amount that had more decimals in the pacs message than the currency allows in MT.

How to fix it

Split the field by position: first 6 characters the date, next 3 the currency, the rest the amount.
Read the date as YY MM DD and check it is a real calendar date and the value date you expect.
Check the currency against ISO 4217 and note its decimals.
Check the amount: digits and exactly one comma, at least one digit before the comma, no more decimals than the currency allows, at most 15 characters in total.
In an MT103, check that 32A agrees with 33B, 36, 71F and 71G (33B times 36, plus 71G, minus every 71F). A gap usually means a charge was taken but not reported.
If the amount is wrong at source, fix the formatting routine that builds the message, not the single payment, so the next payment does not fail the same way.

Field 32A values and whether the network accepts them. Rules and error codes from the Swift MT103 message reference guide; decimals from ISO 4217.

32A value	Valid?	Why
`261022GBP25000,00`	Yes	22 Oct 2026, GBP, 25,000.00. Two decimals for GBP.
`261022GBP25000,`	Yes	Decimals may be left out, but the comma stays.
`261022GBP25000`	No	The decimal comma is mandatory (T43).
`261022GBP25000.00`	No	A dot is not a decimal mark in MT (T43).
`261022GBP25,000.00`	No	Thousands separator and a second separator (T43).
`261022GBP,50`	No	At least one digit before the comma: use `0,50` (T40).
`261022JPY1500000,`	Yes	JPY has no decimals, so nothing follows the comma.
`261022JPY1500000,00`	No	Too many decimals for JPY (C03).
`261022KWD1250,750`	Yes	KWD has three decimals.
`20261022GBP25000,00`	No	Date must be YYMMDD; here the month would read as 26 (T50).
`261131USD100,00`	No	31 November does not exist (T50).
`261022XAU100,`	No	Precious metals are not allowed in an MT103 32A (C08).

Example

ZagTrader Test Bank pays JPY 1,500,000 for a customer to a beneficiary at BANKGB2LXXX, value 22 October 2026, charges shared. Because JPY has no decimals, the amounts end with a bare comma.

{1:F01ZAGTAEADAXXX0000000000}{2:I103BANKGB2LXXXXN}{3:{121:b6347cce-67eb-4105-adc2-7d19f9658abe}}{4:
:20:ZT2610200033
:23B:CRED
:32A:261022JPY1500000,
:33B:JPY1500000,
:50F:/AE940260001015555555555
1/ZAGTRADER TEST TRADING LLC
2/DUBAI INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CENTRE
3/AE/DUBAI
:59F:/GB38ZAGT40051512345678
1/NORTH SEA INSTRUMENTS LTD
2/25 KING STREET
3/GB/LONDON
:70:/INV/NS-88412
:71A:SHA
-}

Open this example in the parser

261022 is the value date, JPY the currency and 1500000, the amount: one million five hundred thousand yen.

33B equals 32A because no charges were deducted and no conversion took place, so there is no field 36.

The same payment in pacs.008 would show <IntrBkSttlmAmt Ccy="JPY">1500000</IntrBkSttlmAmt> and <IntrBkSttlmDt>2026-10-22</IntrBkSttlmDt>.

BICs, names, IBANs and UETR are made up; the IBANs carry valid check digits.

Questions

What does 6!n3!a15d mean?: Exactly 6 digits (the date YYMMDD), exactly 3 letters (the currency code), then an amount of up to 15 characters made of digits and one decimal comma. The ! means fixed length; d means a decimal number with a comma.
Why is my 32A amount rejected when it looks right?: Usually a dot instead of a comma, a missing comma on a whole amount, a thousands separator, or more decimals than the currency allows. 25000,00 and 25000, are valid for GBP; 25000.00 and 25000 are not.
How many decimals can I use for JPY or KWD?: The ISO 4217 minor units apply: JPY none (1500000,), KWD three (1250,750). Fewer decimals are allowed, more are rejected with C03.
Is the 32A date the date the beneficiary is credited?: It is the interbank value date: when the Receiver gets value. The beneficiary is normally credited on or after it, depending on the beneficiary bank and the cut-off times.
What is the ISO 20022 equivalent of field 32A?: IntrBkSttlmDt for the date and IntrBkSttlmAmt with its Ccy attribute for currency and amount, at transaction level in pacs.008 and pacs.009. The amount uses a dot as decimal mark in XML.

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