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Field 56A is the Intermediary Institution — a bank in the payment chain that routes funds when the sender and beneficiary banks have no direct relationship. Track your payment and see all intermediaries →
Format: BIC (8 or 11 characters), optionally preceded by a party identifier. Variants 56C (national clearing code) and 56D (free-format name and address) also exist. Field 56A is optional but plays a critical role on payment corridors where the sender's bank and the beneficiary's bank do not have a direct correspondent relationship. By specifying the intermediary's BIC in field 56A, the sender's bank tells the payment chain exactly which bank should receive the message next and forward it to the beneficiary bank.
The distinction between field 56 and field 57 is a common source of confusion. Field 56 (Intermediary Institution) is a bank in the middle of the chain — it receives the payment and forwards it. Field 57 (Account With Institution) is the beneficiary's bank — the final destination where the beneficiary's account is held. A payment may have a field 56 (intermediary) in addition to field 57 (beneficiary bank), or it may have only field 57 if the sender's bank has a direct relationship with the beneficiary bank.
In standard MT103, only one field 56 entry is possible — meaning only one intermediary bank can be explicitly identified in the message structure. In reality, a payment may pass through multiple intermediary banks: the first hop is named in field 56, and subsequent hops are determined by each bank's own bilateral correspondent relationships as the message is forwarded. The full intermediary chain becomes visible only through the SWIFT GPI tracking trail, which records a status update at every hop.
Field 56A is particularly important on corridors involving currencies with limited clearing infrastructure. For example, a payment from a European bank to a bank in an emerging market currency may need to route through a specific regional clearing bank that acts as the gateway into that currency's clearing system. The sender's bank specifies this gateway bank in field 56A so the message is routed correctly. Without field 56A, correspondent banks may attempt to route the payment through their default correspondent for that corridor, which may not be optimal or may result in additional hops and fees.
When Ohmyfin shows the payment status as ACSP (accepted, settlement in progress) for an extended period, the payment is often mid-flight at the bank named in field 56A or at a downstream intermediary. The Ohmyfin tracker identifies which specific bank is currently holding the payment, allowing your bank to contact that institution directly to expedite the payment or investigate a hold.
| Example value | :56A:INTRBNK3XXX |
|---|---|
| Valid characters / format | BIC |
| Required on MT103 | Optional |
| Required on MT202 | Optional |
| Required on pacs.008 | Optional |
| Notes | Intermediary institution in the chain. |
In a standard MT103, only one bank can be named in field 56. However, the payment can pass through additional intermediaries beyond field 56 — these are determined by each bank's own correspondent network and are not explicitly named in the original message. The full hop list is only visible in the SWIFT GPI tracking trail on Ohmyfin.
Field 56A (Intermediary Institution) is a bank in the middle of the payment chain — it routes the funds onward but does not hold the beneficiary's account. Field 57A (Account With Institution) is the final bank in the chain — it holds the beneficiary's account and credits the funds upon receipt. A payment routed through an intermediary will have both field 56A and field 57A.
The payment may be rejected by the intended intermediary (if the BIC is invalid or unreachable) or misrouted to an unintended bank (if the BIC is valid but belongs to a different institution from the intended one). Always verify intermediary BICs at /swift-codes before populating field 56A.
When the sender's bank has a direct correspondent relationship with the beneficiary bank (field 57A) and can route the payment in one hop. For major currency pairs between well-connected banks (e.g. US-UK, US-EU), field 56A is often unnecessary. For exotic corridors or minor currencies, field 56A is usually required.
Yes — the bank named in field 56A (the intermediary institution) is screened for sanctions by every bank that processes the message. If the specified intermediary bank is on a sanctions list, the payment will be blocked.
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