ISO CAMT Messages

There are a bit less than 700 message formats in ISO 20022 which are divided into 16 categories. For payments transactions the category “camt” (cash management) is among the three most important.

The ISO camt messages are mostly notifications about the account balance in the customer to bank communication. They are also used for other purposes in bank to bank transactions. This article describes the most important functions, particularly with regard to the exchange of messages with the Deutsche Bundesbank (TARGET2 and SEPA Clearer).

ISO camt messages – mostly an account information

The ISO camt message as account information has three variants:

• camt.052 report: within day retrieval of account transactions
  (corresponds to MT942)
• camt.053 – Statement: posted account statement at the end of the business day
  (corresponds to the MT940)
• camt.054 – Display: Message about an account movement
  (corresponds to the MT900 or MT910 debit / credit)

(more information about SWIFT MT MX)

The camt.054 is not used very much, but will probably gain in importance with the increasing spread of real-time payments (e.g. SEPA instant payments). The request can also be made in real time with the EBICS web socket extension.

ISO camt as a recall or cancellation

In the customer / bank communication, the camt.055 is defined for a recall, whereby these parties are of course free to use their own modalities for their business transactions. In the bank to bank communication the corresponding format is camt.056 (an overview of the ISO camt.056 is available in a separate article).
It makes a difference for the recall of course, which kind of transaction (credit transfer or direct debit) and which CSM was used. TARGET2 (SWIFT MX) is mainly used for credit transfers of individual payments and the recipient bank has to agree to the recal or reject it.

The positive confirmation is a pacs.004, since it is a “money movement” (pacs: Payments Clearing and Settlement) and the camt.029 is only optional. If the creditor bank does not accept the recall an camt.029 is send as a negative response.

If the recall was made fast enough before further processing by TARGET2 the positive response will be a camt.029 and a pacs.002 (SEPA SCT Reject).

SEPA SDD – cancellation with camt.056

The recall of a direct debit before the due date is not critical, i.e. positive in any case. The execution is also carried out here with the camt.056.

SEPA SCT – Correction of the value date

The debitor can request the correction of the value date of a previous pacs.008 with a camt.087 message. The confirmation is communicated by a camt.029 message.

SEPA SCT Inquiry – Claim Non-Receipt

The debtor bank can ask about the whereabouts of a pacs.008. The request is a camt.027 and the answer is again a camt.029.

SEPA SCT recall – positive and negative

A SEPA Credit Transfer (pacs.008) can also be called back with a camt.056 . A positive answer is given as pacs.004, the negative answer is a camt.029.