What is MT940?

MT940 stands for "Message Type 940" within the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) network. SWIFT assigns message type numbers to different categories of financial communication, and the 9xx series covers cash management and customer statements. MT940 specifically delivers end-of-day account statements from a bank to its corporate customers.

Unlike the XML-based formats common in US banking (OFX, QBO), MT940 uses a structured text format with tagged fields. Each field is identified by a colon-delimited tag number (like :20:, :25:, :61:), followed by the field data in a precisely defined format. This compact, text-based approach made MT940 efficient for transmission over the SWIFT network, where message size historically mattered.

MT940 has been the backbone of corporate treasury operations for decades. Companies use these statements to automate cash positioning, reconcile bank accounts, and feed transaction data into ERP systems like SAP and Oracle. A single MT940 file can contain all transactions for a given account on a given day, along with opening and closing balances.

While MT940 remains widely used, it is gradually being replaced by CAMT.053 (ISO 20022) as part of SWIFT's MT-to-MX migration program. The coexistence period means that businesses today often need to handle both formats. Converting MT940 to QBO format with PrimeConnect lets you bring these international bank statements into QuickBooks® without manual re-entry.

The :61: tag is the core of every MT940 statement — it represents a single transaction. The field packs date, amount, transaction type, and references into a compact string. For example, 2602150215D89,50NTRFNONREF means: value date February 15, 2026; entry date February 15; Debit; amount 89.50; transaction type NTRF (transfer); reference NONREF.

The :86: tag that follows each :61: line provides human-readable details about the transaction. Banks use sub-fields (prefixed with ?) to structure this information: ?20-?29 for remittance details, ?30 for the counterparty bank BIC, and ?31 for the counterparty account number.

Balance tags use a specific format: C or D (credit/debit), followed by the date in YYMMDD format, the currency code, and the amount with a comma as the decimal separator (European convention). The :60F: opening balance and :62F: closing balance must mathematically reconcile with the sum of all :61: transactions.