| Field | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
:20: | A unique reference assigned by the sending bank for this advice. It identifies the advice in both banks systems and lets operations teams trace it. It must not | M |
:21: | The reference of the original collection or cheque instruction that this advice relates to. It links the payment advice to the collection the beneficiary bank i | M |
:25: | The account that was credited with the payment, identified by account number. It tells the receiver exactly which account received the funds. A wrong account nu | O |
:32A: | The value date, ISO currency code and amount of the payment, for example 261106EUR48250,00. The receiver compares it with its expected collection amount to conf | M |
:52a: | The institution that ordered the payment, when it differs from the sender of the MT400. It identifies the true originator of the payment instruction. The field | O |
:53a: | The bank that presented the cheque or collection for payment. It identifies the presenting bank in the collection chain. The receiver uses it to confirm the pay | O |
:50a: | The drawer of the cheque or the party that issued the collection instruction. It gives the name and account of the party whose funds were used. The receiver use | O |
:59a: | The beneficiary of the payment, identified by account number and name. The receiving bank credits this party on the value date. The field confirms the funds rea | M |
:72: | Additional information from sender to receiver, such as a narrative explaining the payment or a code for the payment type. It can carry the cheque number or the | O |
:71B: | Details of any charges deducted from the payment, with the charge type and amount in free text. It explains why the advised amount differs from the original col | O |
:30: | The date on which the cheque or collection was paid, when it differs from the value date in field 32A. It tells the receiver when the payment was actually made. | O |
Harbour Bank sends an MT400 to Meridian Bank advising payment of EUR 48,250.00 on 6 November 2026 for collection reference COLL99214, drawn on a Madrid corporate. The related reference matches the outstanding collection, the value date matches the payment date, and Meridian credits the beneficiary and closes the collection.
Valid example from the message catalogue. Scheme rules: MT400 follows the SWIFT collection and cheque advice rules and remains in use for documentary collections and cheque clearing, which have no ISO 20022 equivalent in general use. Domestic cheque cleari
Worked Example: a EUR 250,000 documentary collection from a French exporter to a Spanish importer, traced from remitting bank to collecting bank to MT400 and final credit
What you will learn
Your objective. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain worked example: a EUR 250,000 documentary collection from a french exporter to a spanish importer, traced from remitting bank to collecting bank to mt400 and final credit. The trade begins in Lyon, where a French exporter, Rhone Packaging SA, sells EUR 250,000 of pharmaceutical packaging to a Spanish importer, Iberia Pharma SL in Madrid.
Why it matters. This matters because cross-border payments involve more banks, more charges, more time and more ways to fail than any domestic payment. Getting the chain right is the job.
Chapter objective: Learner explains documentary collections, the roles of remitting and collecting banks, and the SWIFT Category 4 messages used at each stage. Learner uses real examples with amounts, banks and message names to show how the topic works in practice.
Key learning points
- Trade begins in Lyon
- 5 November 2026 Rhone Packaging delivers
- Banco Santander
- Iberia Pharma
- MT400: formal advice
- Exporter has been paid
Key terms
pacs.008: An ISO 20022 message for a financial institution to financial institution customer credit transfer. It replaces MT103 in cross border payments and carries structured debtor, creditor, charges and...
MT400: A SWIFT message used to advise a bank of the collection of a documentary credit or a bill, and to request payment or acceptance.
SWIFT: The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a member owned cooperative that provides secure messaging services for financial institutions.
SWIFT MT message viewer showing Worked Example: a EUR 250,000 documentary collection from a French exporter to a Spanish importer, traced from remitting bank to collecting bank to MT400 and final credit.
Practise this lesson
Exercise
Route the payment described in this lesson and justify the route.
Use the routing rules, the correspondent chain and the charges in this lesson.
- What to do. Name each bank in the chain, the message used on each leg, and the charges deducted at each step.
Correct result. The route follows the correspondent chain from the debtor agent to the creditor agent, with each intermediary deducting its charge and passing the remainder on. The message on each leg carries the information the next bank needs.
Why. Routing is a business decision with a cost. The wrong route is slower, more expensive, or fails.
Check your understanding
Practice question
Which of the following best describes worked example: a EUR 250,000 documentary collection from a french exporter to a spanish importer, traced from remitting bank to collecting bank to mt400 and final credit?
Takeaway and next step
What to remember
The exporter has been paid, the importer has its goods, and every step is evidenced by a document or a message.
Build a cross-border payment like the one in this lesson and watch the chain, the charges, and the final amount change.
Open the Cross-Border Payment Configurator →
Builds on "MT400: Advice of Payment and Announcing the Proceeds".
Transcript and full text
Show transcript
This worked example traces a EUR 250,000 documentary collection from a French exporter to a Spanish importer, from the sale contract to the final credit, with the exact amounts, dates, parties, and messages at each step. The exporter is Loire Vins SARL, a wine exporter in Bordeaux, France. The importer is Madrid Distribuciones SA, a distributor in Madrid, Spain. The sale is 2,000 cases of Bordeaux wine, invoice value EUR 250,000, payment terms documents against payment, D/P, at sight. The exporter bank, the remitting bank, is Banque de Bordeaux, France. The importer bank, the collecting bank, is Banco de Madrid, Spain. Step 1, 2 May 2026. Loire Vins and Madrid Distribuciones agree the sale. The contract states the price EUR 250,000, the payment terms D/P at sight, the documents required, commercial invoice, bill of lading, certificate of origin, insurance certificate, and packing list, and the banks, Banque de Bordeaux as remitting bank and Banco de Madrid as collecting bank. The contract states that the collection is subject to URC 522. Step 2, 5 May 2026. Loire Vins ships the wine from Bordeaux to Madrid, and obtains the bill of lading from the carrier, the commercial invoice for EUR 250,000, the certificate of origin, the insurance certificate, and the packing list. It draws a sight bill of exchange on Madrid Distribuciones for EUR 250,000, payable at sight. Step 3, 6 May 2026. Loire Vins gives the documents, the bill of exchange, and the collection instruction to Banque de Bordeaux. The instruction states the documents enclosed, the amount EUR 250,000, the terms D/P at sight, the charges to be borne by the drawee, and that the collecting bank should protest the bill if the drawee refuses to pay. Banque de Bordeaux checks that the instruction is complete and that the documents listed are present. Step 4, 7 May 2026. Banque de Bordeaux sends the documents to Banco de Madrid by courier, and sends a covering SWIFT message. Banco de Madrid receives the documents, checks them against the instruction, registers the collection as COLL 2026 0512 001, and sends an MT410 acknowledgement to Banque de Bordeaux, confirming receipt. Step 5, 9 May 2026. Banco de Madrid presents the documents to Madrid Distribuciones, and notifies it that documents have arrived and that payment of EUR 250,000 is required for their release. Madrid Distribuciones examines the documents, confirms that they match the wine it ordered, and agrees to pay. Step 6, 12 May 2026. Madrid Distribuciones pays EUR 250,000 to Banco de Madrid. Banco de Madrid releases the documents to Madrid Distribuciones, which takes the bill of lading to the carrier and takes delivery of the wine. Banco de Madrid deducts its charges of EUR 150, leaving EUR 249,850. Step 7, 12 May 2026. Banco de Madrid sends an MT400 advice of payment to Banque de Bordeaux. Field 20 carries COLL 2026 0512 001. Field 21 carries REM 2026 0501 014, the Banque de Bordeaux reference. Field 32A carries 120526EUR249850,00, the value date 12 May 2026 and the amount EUR 249,850. Field 71B states OUR CHARGES EUR 150,00. Field 72 states PROCEEDS OF COLLECTION FOR INVOICE INV 2026 0441. Banco de Madrid remits EUR 249,850 to Banque de Bordeaux through its correspondent account. Step 8, 13 May 2026. Banque de Bordeaux receives the MT400 and the proceeds, checks the amount against the collection instruction, deducts its own charges of EUR 100, and credits Loire Vins with EUR 249,750. The collection is closed. The accounting entries are as follows. At Banco de Madrid, on receipt of the payment from the drawee, the bank debits the drawee account EUR 250,000 and credits a collection suspense account EUR 250,000. On remittance, it debits the collection suspense account EUR 250,000, credits its charges income EUR 150, and credits the nostro account EUR 249,850. At Banque de Bordeaux, on receipt of the proceeds, it debits its nostro account EUR 249,850, credits its charges income EUR 100, and credits the Loire Vins account EUR 249,750. The exporter receives EUR 249,750 for a EUR 250,000 invoice, and the difference of EUR 250 is the total bank charges, EUR 150 at the collecting bank and EUR 100 at the remitting bank. The exporter should have agreed the charges in advance, and should have priced the sale to cover them. The edge cases in this example are instructive. If Madrid Distribuciones had refused to pay, Banco de Madrid would have sent an MT416 advice of non-payment to Banque de Bordeaux, and would have held the documents. Banque de Bordeaux would have advised Loire Vins, which would have decided whether to find another buyer in Spain, to ship the wine back to France, or to take legal action. If Madrid Distribuciones had paid only EUR 200,000, Banco de Madrid would have sent an MT400 for EUR 200,000, stated in field 72 that it was a partial payment, and held the documents for the balance. If the documents had been wrong, for example if the bill of lading stated a different quantity from the invoice, Madrid Distribuciones might have refused the documents, and the collection would have stopped until the documents were corrected. For a business analyst, this example shows the whole collection in one narrative, with the parties, the documents, the messages, the amounts, and the accounting. The analyst should be able to trace the EUR 250,000 from the importer to the collecting bank, to the remitting bank, to the exporter, naming the MT410 and the MT400, the charges at each bank, and the value dates. The analyst should also be able to explain what happens if the drawee refuses, if the payment is partial, or if the documents are wrong. A professional who can walk through this example, with the field numbers and the amounts, can design a trade finance system that handles a documentary collection correctly.
This worked example traces a EUR 250,000 documentary collection from a French exporter to a Spanish importer, from the sale contract to the final credit, with the exact amounts, dates, parties, and messages at each step. The exporter is Loire Vins SARL, a wine exporter in Bordeaux, France. The importer is Madrid Distribuciones SA, a distributor in Madrid, Spain. The sale is 2,000 cases of Bordeaux wine, invoice value EUR 250,000, payment terms documents against payment, D/P, at sight. The exporter bank, the remitting bank, is Banque de Bordeaux, France. The importer bank, the collecting bank, is Banco de Madrid, Spain.
Step 1, 2 May 2026. Loire Vins and Madrid Distribuciones agree the sale. The contract states the price EUR 250,000, the payment terms D/P at sight, the documents required, commercial invoice, bill of lading, certificate of origin, insurance certificate, and packing list, and the banks, Banque de Bordeaux as remitting bank and Banco de Madrid as collecting bank. The contract states that the collection is subject to URC 522. Step 2, 5 May 2026. Loire Vins ships the wine from Bordeaux to Madrid, and obtains the bill of lading from the carrier, the commercial invoice for EUR 250,000, the certificate of origin, the insurance certificate, and the packing list. It draws a sight bill of exchange on Madrid Distribuciones for EUR 250,000, payable at sight.
Step 3, 6 May 2026. Loire Vins gives the documents, the bill of exchange, and the collection instruction to Banque de Bordeaux. The instruction states the documents enclosed, the amount EUR 250,000, the terms D/P at sight, the charges to be borne by the drawee, and that the collecting bank should protest the bill if the drawee refuses to pay. Banque de Bordeaux checks that the instruction is complete and that the documents listed are present. Step 4, 7 May 2026. Banque de Bordeaux sends the documents to Banco de Madrid by courier, and sends a covering SWIFT message. Banco de Madrid receives the documents, checks them against the instruction, registers the collection as COLL 2026 0512 001, and sends an MT410 acknowledgement to Banque de Bordeaux, confirming receipt.
Step 5, 9 May 2026. Banco de Madrid presents the documents to Madrid Distribuciones, and notifies it that documents have arrived and that payment of EUR 250,000 is required for their release. Madrid Distribuciones examines the documents, confirms that they match the wine it ordered, and agrees to pay. Step 6, 12 May 2026. Madrid Distribuciones pays EUR 250,000 to Banco de Madrid. Banco de Madrid releases the documents to Madrid Distribuciones, which takes the bill of lading to the carrier and takes delivery of the wine. Banco de Madrid deducts its charges of EUR 150, leaving EUR 249,850.
Step 7, 12 May 2026. Banco de Madrid sends an MT400 advice of payment to Banque de Bordeaux. Field 20 carries COLL 2026 0512 001. Field 21 carries REM 2026 0501 014, the Banque de Bordeaux reference. Field 32A carries 120526EUR249850,00, the value date 12 May 2026 and the amount EUR 249,850. Field 71B states OUR CHARGES EUR 150,00. Field 72 states PROCEEDS OF COLLECTION FOR INVOICE INV 2026 0441. Banco de Madrid remits EUR 249,850 to Banque de Bordeaux through its correspondent account. Step 8, 13 May 2026. Banque de Bordeaux receives the MT400 and the proceeds, checks the amount against the collection instruction, deducts its own charges of EUR 100, and credits Loire Vins with EUR 249,750. The collection is closed.
The accounting entries are as follows. At Banco de Madrid, on receipt of the payment from the drawee, the bank debits the drawee account EUR 250,000 and credits a collection suspense account EUR 250,000. On remittance, it debits the collection suspense account EUR 250,000, credits its charges income EUR 150, and credits the nostro account EUR 249,850. At Banque de Bordeaux, on receipt of the proceeds, it debits its nostro account EUR 249,850, credits its charges income EUR 100, and credits the Loire Vins account EUR 249,750. The exporter receives EUR 249,750 for a EUR 250,000 invoice, and the difference of EUR 250 is the total bank charges, EUR 150 at the collecting bank and EUR 100 at the remitting bank. The exporter should have agreed the charges in advance, and should have priced the sale to cover them.
The edge cases in this example are instructive. If Madrid Distribuciones had refused to pay, Banco de Madrid would have sent an MT416 advice of non-payment to Banque de Bordeaux, and would have held the documents. Banque de Bordeaux would have advised Loire Vins, which would have decided whether to find another buyer in Spain, to ship the wine back to France, or to take legal action. If Madrid Distribuciones had paid only EUR 200,000, Banco de Madrid would have sent an MT400 for EUR 200,000, stated in field 72 that it was a partial payment, and held the documents for the balance. If the documents had been wrong, for example if the bill of lading stated a different quantity from the invoice, Madrid Distribuciones might have refused the documents, and the collection would have stopped until the documents were corrected.
For a business analyst, this example shows the whole collection in one narrative, with the parties, the documents, the messages, the amounts, and the accounting. The analyst should be able to trace the EUR 250,000 from the importer to the collecting bank, to the remitting bank, to the exporter, naming the MT410 and the MT400, the charges at each bank, and the value dates. The analyst should also be able to explain what happens if the drawee refuses, if the payment is partial, or if the documents are wrong. A professional who can walk through this example, with the field numbers and the amounts, can design a trade finance system that handles a documentary collection correctly.
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