About SWIFT Message Format
All SWIFT messages must adhere to a defined format or “block structure.” There are five possible blocks within a message, each consisting of fields that provide specific information related to the block type. Blocks are distinguishable by brace delimiters that start and end each individual block. Additionally, each block begins with a block identifier (number) and a colon. The identifier indicates the block type as header, trailer, or text.
A SWIFT message may have the following five blocks:
1: Basic Header Block—Mandatory. Contains basic header information. A SWIFT message always has header Block 1. No field separators are used within this block.
2: Application Header Block—Contains header information about the message itself. The content of this block depends on whether it is a GPA or a FIN message. No field separators are used within this block.
3: User Header Block—Contains header information for user-to-user messages only within the FIN application. This identifies the version of the message standard.
4: Text Block—Contains the text of the SWIFT message. This is the “body” of the message that provides the message data. Each field within this block starts with a message tag, followed by the values for that tag, for example, 22F::MICO/A2C4E6G8/A2C4, where 22F is the message tag, and the information that follows is the value for that field. The format of this block is always the tag number, followed by a colon, and then the field values. This block begins with a carriage return and line feed and ends with a carriage return and line feed followed by a hyphen.
5: Trailers Block—Contains the trailer information to indicate any special handling conditions or additional information.
Sample SWIFT FIN Message, MT 541, Receive Against Payment
{1:F01CLSAHKHHXXXX0116013185}{2:I541CLSAHKHHXXXXN}
{3:{108:MT535 004 OF 006}}
{4:
:16R:GENL
:20C::SEME//01430
:23G:NEWM/CODU
:98C::PREP//19991231232359
:99B::SETT//123
:16R:LINK
:22F::LINK/A2C4E6G8/A2C4
:13A::LINK//513
:20C::PREV//x
:16S:LINK
:16S:GENL
:16R:TRADDET
:94B::TRAD//EXCH/30x
...
:97A::CASH//x
:97A::SAFE//x
:16S:OTHRPRTY-}
For more detailed information about SWIFT FIN messages, see the documentation provided by SWIFT or go to
http://www.swift.com.