Last reviewed: · Curated by Ohmyfin Organisation editorial.
Field 20 on an MT103 is the Sender's Reference — a unique identifier that the sending bank assigns to its outgoing payment. It is up to 16 characters of letters, numbers and slashes (no leading or trailing slash, no double slashes).
Details
Field 20 is sometimes called the "TRN" (Transaction Reference Number). It is the value you use when calling your bank to ask "where is my payment?".
For end-to-end tracking across all banks, the UETR in field 121 is more reliable, because field 20 is bank-specific.
Key facts
Up to 16 characters, alphanumeric and slashes
Assigned by the sending bank
Unique within that bank only
Often called the "TRN"
Frequently asked questions
Can I use field 20 to track a payment on Ohmyfin?
Yes — Ohmyfin can look up payments by sender reference if the UETR is not available.
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