What are MT940, camt.053 and BAI2 bank statement formats?
Bank statement formats are the standard electronic file layouts banks use to send account balances and transactions to companies' finance systems. The main ones are MT940, a SWIFT message format; camt.053, the ISO 20022 XML end-of-day statement; and BAI2, a format used mainly by US banks. Treasury and ERP systems import them for cash positions and reconciliation.
Also calledMT940camt.053BAI2electronic bank statement
Compare the softwareBest month-end close software →All 14 financial close vendors →
- SWIFT format
- MT940
- ISO 20022 format
- camt.053
- US format
- BAI2
How bank statement formats are used
Each format carries the opening and closing balance and each transaction's date, amount and reference, but with different detail. MT940 has limited fields, so remittance information is often truncated. camt.053, part of ISO 20022, is structured XML with room for full remittance details and party information, which improves automatic matching; intraday reports use camt.052 and debit and credit notifications camt.054. BAI2 has long been the standard for US corporate banking. Banks are moving towards ISO 20022 formats as payment systems migrate, so companies with older MT940 imports are gradually switching to camt.053. Treasury systems read the formats from every bank and normalise them before the data reaches reconciliation. Embat collects statements in all three formats, and BlackLine imports them for bank reconciliations.
Common questions
What is the difference between MT940 and camt.053?+
Both are end-of-day statements. MT940 is an older SWIFT text format with limited fields; camt.053 is ISO 20022 XML with structured fields for full remittance and party details, which makes matching easier.
What is camt.054?+
An ISO 20022 debit and credit notification, sent for individual transactions or batches during the day, often used to break a bulk payment into its individual items.
Who uses BAI2?+
Mainly US banks and companies, for prior-day and intraday reporting. US banks also offer camt formats as ISO 20022 adoption grows.
Software that reads bank statement files
Part of Accountio’s accounting technology coverage · Glossary
