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MT103 is the customer payment instruction. MT202 is the bank-to-bank funding message. Both carry the same UETR. Track any SWIFT payment free by UETR on Ohmyfin →
When you send an international wire, your bank creates at minimum one SWIFT message: an MT103 (Single Customer Credit Transfer). This message contains the ordering customer (field 50), beneficiary customer (field 59), amount and currency (field 32A), remittance information (field 70), and the UETR (field 121). The MT103 travels through the correspondent network from sender's bank to beneficiary's bank — each intermediary passes it on, deducting fees if instructed (field 71A).
The MT202 is a Financial Institution Transfer — it moves funds between banks themselves, not between customers. In the serial correspondent-payment model, an MT103 is enough: each correspondent simply passes the message and the funds sequentially. But in the cover-payment model, the sending bank sends the MT103 directly to the beneficiary's bank (instructing the credit) and simultaneously sends an MT202 to a correspondent in the destination currency's country (instructing the funding). The MT202 is the plumbing behind the MT103.
Example: a UK company sends USD to a US supplier. The UK bank sends an MT103 directly to the US beneficiary bank telling it to credit the supplier. Simultaneously, the UK bank sends an MT202 to its US correspondent bank — NatWest's New York branch, for example — instructing it to pay the US beneficiary bank in USD. The beneficiary bank releases the credit once it receives both the MT103 instruction and the MT202 funds. If the MT202 arrives late (a common cause of delays), the beneficiary bank may be waiting for the funds even though the MT103 has already arrived.
MT202 COV: before 2009, MT202 cover messages did not have to include the underlying customer information. This created a sanctions-screening gap — a correspondent bank could process the MT202 without knowing who the ultimate customer was. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and SWIFT closed this gap with the MT202 COV (cover variant), introduced in November 2009. MT202 COV includes the ordering customer and beneficiary customer details, so every bank in the cover chain — not just the bank receiving the MT103 — can run full AML/sanctions checks on the underlying parties.
In the ISO 20022 world: when the SWIFT CBPR+ migration completes in November 2025, cross-border customer payments move to pacs.008 (replacing MT103) and interbank cover payments move to pacs.009 (replacing MT202/MT202 COV). pacs.009 includes a structured CoverDetails block that carries the underlying customer transaction data — the same function as MT202 COV, but in richer ISO 20022 XML format. The UETR remains the same 36-character UUID in both the pacs.008 and pacs.009 for the same payment.
Tracking via UETR: both the MT103 and the MT202 (COV) for the same payment carry the identical UETR in field 121. This means a payment tracker like Ohmyfin can link the two messages together via a single UETR lookup. If your payment is delayed, checking the UETR on Ohmyfin may show that the MT103 has been received at the beneficiary bank (status ACSP at the receiving bank) but the funds have not yet arrived — which often indicates the MT202 cover payment is still in transit or held for sanctions screening at the correspondent.
| MT103 | MT202 / MT202COV | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Customer credit transfer | Bank-to-bank cover payment |
| Parties | Sender → beneficiary customer | Bank → bank (funds the MT103) |
| Customer data | Yes — full | Only on MT202COV |
| UETR | Field 121 | Same UETR as paired MT103 |
| Sanctions transparency | Built-in | Requires MT202COV variant |
| Typical pair | One per customer payment | Funds one or more MT103s |
Your bank is using the cover-payment model. The MT103 is the customer payment instruction sent directly to the beneficiary bank. The MT202 (or MT202 COV) is the bank-to-bank funding message sent to the correspondent in the destination country to actually move the USD/EUR/GBP. Both carry the same UETR.
Yes — this is a common delay scenario. If the beneficiary bank has received the MT103 instruction but is waiting for the MT202 funds, it will typically hold the credit for 1–2 business days before returning the MT103 or chasing the correspondent. If you check the UETR on Ohmyfin and see the beneficiary bank listed as ACSP (processing) for more than 1 day, this is likely what has happened. Contact your bank to confirm both the MT103 and MT202 were sent.
MT202 is the plain bank-to-bank cover message. MT202 COV is the "cover" variant required since November 2009 for payments that originate from or are destined to a customer (as opposed to pure bank-to-bank transactions). MT202 COV includes a mandatory block with the underlying customer information (ordering customer name/account, beneficiary customer name/account) so every bank in the chain can run full AML/sanctions screening.
Yes — under SWIFT's CBPR+ migration programme, pacs.008 (FIToFICustomerCreditTransfer) replaces the MT103 and pacs.009 (FinancialInstitutionCreditTransfer) replaces the MT202/MT202 COV for cross-border payments. The cutover deadline is November 2025. During the coexistence period (March 2023 to November 2025), SWIFT auto-translates between MT and ISO 20022 MX messages.
Ask your bank for the full SWIFT advice. In the serial model you will see one MT103 that passes through each correspondent. In the cover model you will see both an MT103 (the customer payment) and a separate MT202 COV (the funding message). The UETR in field 121 is the same on both messages. Looking up the UETR on Ohmyfin can show you the status at each bank in the chain.
For SWIFT cross-border CBPR+ traffic, MT103 is being replaced by pacs.008 with a deadline of November 2025 for new originations. Domestic MT usage (within some national banking communities) continues on its own local migration timelines. For most international corporate wires, you should expect to see pacs.008 confirmations rather than MT103 confirmations from late 2025 onwards.
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