Payment & trade finance MT103

SWIFT MT103 (payment confirmation)

The standard SWIFT message used between banks for single customer cross-border transfers; it contains the sender, beneficiary, amount, value date and references, and is shared with the seller as proof that payment has been sent. Banks are migrating to the ISO 20022 format (pacs.008) from 2025, and the UETR tracking number shows where the payment is in the chain. Fake MT103 images are common in fraud, so a seller should confirm with its own bank that the funds have actually arrived before releasing goods.

Related terms

Telegraphic transfer (T/T, wire transfer) T/T

Payment sent directly to the seller’s account through the interbank SWIFT network. In raw material trade it is used in patterns such as “30 % T/T in advance, 70 % T/T against copy of bill of lading”. It is fast and cheap but carries no bank guarantee: with advance payment the buyer bears the risk, with payment after shipment the seller does. Confirming the IBAN and beneficiary name through a known channel before paying is the key protection against “our bank account has changed” e-mails.

Payment diversion fraud (business e-mail compromise) BEC

A fraud in which an attacker breaks into the seller’s or buyer’s e-mail, or writes from a look-alike domain, and at payment time announces that “our bank account has changed”, diverting the money to their own account. It is one of the costliest frauds in international trade and the money is often unrecoverable. Defences: confirm any IBAN change by voice on a previously known phone number, tie account changes to two-step verification inside the platform, watch for look-alike domains and start large payments with a small test transfer.

Explained in the trade handbook

Trade handbook