MT940 transaction type codes: NTRF, NCHG, NDDT and the rest

How the code is built

The transaction type is the sixth subfield of :61:, right after the amount, in the format 1!a3!c: an identification letter and three characters.

:61:2610281028C1190,00NTRFAW-2026-0815//COBA261028001
:61:2610281028D89,90NDDTWT-998877//COBA261028002
:61:2610281028D12,50NCHGNONREF//COBA261028004

• N (no SWIFT message behind the entry) is followed by one of the codes below: NTRF a transfer, NDDT a direct debit, NCHG charges.
• S is followed by the number of the SWIFT message that caused the entry: S103 a customer payment received as an MT103, S202 a financial institution transfer (MT202).
• F (first advice: an entry the statement is the first to report, such as an item the bank itself originated) is followed by a code from the same list as N: FCHG is a charge first advised on the statement. A code that is not in the list is the bank’s own; only its guide says what it means.

Banks pick codes their own way: two banks can report the same payment as NTRF and NMSC. For rules in your accounting system, use the code together with the :86: details, or move to camt.053, whose bank transaction codes are finer.

The codes you will see most

The ISO codes are examples with the same meaning, not a mapping: the MT code is coarser (NTRF covers every kind of transfer, received or sent), so no standard maps one to the other.

Every code

Securities-related codes, mostly seen on custody and investment accounts:

In camt.053

The MT940 to camt.053 converter on this site keeps the four characters as a proprietary code, BkTxCd/Prtry/Cd with issuer SWIFT, and does not invent an ISO domain, family and sub-family from them. A camt.053 produced by your bank carries the ISO code it assigned; the camt.053 vs MT940 guide compares the two field by field.

Look up a code from a script or an AI agent

The same explanation is available to scripts and AI agents, keyless: the REST endpoint GET /api/v1/explain and the explain_code tool of the MCP server at https://iso20022-navigator.com/mcp (API and MCP docs; add it to Claude, Cursor or VS Code).

curl -s 'https://iso20022-navigator.com/api/v1/explain?code=NTRF&kind=mt940_transaction_type'

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "explain_code",
    "arguments": {
      "code": "NTRF",
      "kind": "mt940_transaction_type"
    }
  }
}

{
  "query": "NTRF",
  "kind": "mt940_transaction_type",
  "matches": [
    {
      "kind": "mt940_transaction_type",
      "code": "NTRF",
      "name": "Transfer",
      "definition": ":61: transaction type N + TRF: Transfer.",
      "usedIn": "MT940/MT942 :61: subfield 6",
      "reference": "https://iso20022-navigator.com/mt940-transaction-codes#trf"
    }
  ]
}