General Banking
Remittance Information
Remittance information is the structured or unstructured data attached to a payment that explains its purpose. It helps the beneficiary identify what the payment relates to — typically an invoice number, contract reference, or account identifier.
In SWIFT wire transfers, remittance information is carried in field 70 of an MT103 message, limited to 140 characters of free text. The newer ISO 20022 messaging standard allows structured remittance data with explicit fields for invoice numbers, amounts, and dates, making automated reconciliation far easier. SEPA credit transfers support a 140-character unstructured remittance field or a structured creditor reference conforming to ISO 11649.
Without clear remittance information, businesses must manually match incoming payments to outstanding invoices — a time-consuming and error-prone process. For companies processing hundreds of payments daily, structured remittance data can dramatically reduce reconciliation effort and the delays that come with unidentified payments.
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