SWIFT / cross-border
PAYMENTS SIGNAL · REFERENCE CARDSWIFT serial payment (MT103)
A cross-border customer transfer where the MT103 hops from bank to bank and money moves as book transfers across correspondent accounts.
Actors
- Ordering customercustomer
- Bank Alfa (ordering bank)bank
- Meridian Bank (correspondent)bank
- Cassia Bank (beneficiary bank)bank
- Beneficiarycustomer
Messages
- MT103
- MT910
The sequence
| # | Step | Route | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Instruction — The customer orders a USD transfer abroad | Customer → Bank Alfa | message |
| 2 | Validate & screen — Bank Alfa validates and screens | Bank Alfa | internal |
| 3 | DR customer — The customer's account is debited | Bank Alfa | posting |
| 4 | MT103 — The MT103 goes to Bank Alfa's USD correspondent | Bank Alfa → Meridian | message |
| 5 | Validate & screen — Meridian validates and screens in the middle | Meridian | internal |
| 6 | Book transfer — Money moves across the books of Meridian | Meridian | settlement |
| 7 | MT910 — Cassia is advised its nostro was credited | Meridian → Cassia | message |
| 8 | MT103 — The MT103 continues serially to Cassia | Meridian → Cassia | message |
| 9 | Validate & screen — Cassia validates the incoming payment | Cassia | internal |
| 10 | CR beneficiary — The beneficiary is credited | Cassia | posting |
Exception rails
| Rail | Trigger | Where the money ends up | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return: invalid account | The beneficiary account number in the MT103 does not exist at Cassia. | Back with the ordering customer (charges may have been deducted along the way). · Each hop settled and was then unwound by an equally settled return. | Cassia — The customer verifies the beneficiary's account number before re-sending. |
| Missed cut-off | The MT103 reaches Meridian after its USD processing cut-off for same-day value. | Debited from the customer on day one; credited to the beneficiary the next business day. · Settled one value date later than instructed. | Meridian — Operations at Bank Alfa answers the enquiry using the payment's trail and reviews cut-off schedules for this corridor. |