MT940 Viewer: Complete Feature Guide & Reference
🏦 Open the MT940 Viewer to explore every feature described in this guide.
Open MT940 Viewer →Contents
What Is the MT940 Viewer?
The FinancialDataTools.com MT940 Viewer is a free, browser-based tool for opening and exploring SWIFT MT940 bank statement files. It parses the SWIFT tagged-field format entirely in your browser — no server, no account, no install.
The viewer is designed for treasury teams, finance professionals, and developers who work with international bank statement data in the MT940 format.
Try the MT940 Viewer — runs entirely in your browser and never uploads your files.
Open the MT940 Viewer →What Is an MT940 File?
MT940 is a SWIFT message standard used by banks to deliver electronic account statements. SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) defines MT940 as the "Customer Statement Message" format. It is widely used by banks in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and in international corporate banking globally.
MT940 files use a structured tagged-field format where each field is identified by a colon-delimited tag code:
- :20: Transaction reference number
- :25: Account identification
- :28C: Statement number and sequence
- :60F: Opening balance (credit/debit, date, currency, amount)
- :61: Statement line — one per transaction (value date, booking date, D/C, amount, type code, references)
- :86: Information to account owner — narrative text for the preceding :61: transaction
- :62F: Closing balance
The viewer parses all :61: statement lines and their associated :86: narrative fields into a transaction table.
Supported File Extensions
| Extension | Description |
|---|---|
| .mt940 | SWIFT MT940 bank statement file (standard extension) |
| .sta | Statement file — common name used by ERP and treasury systems |
| .swift | SWIFT message file |
| .txt | Plain text MT940 files without specific extension |
The Toolbar
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| Open File | Opens a file picker to select your MT940 file |
| Info | Opens the file info panel showing account metadata, currency, closing balance, and column overview |
| Export | Opens the export dialog to download transactions in CSV, JSON, Excel, or TSV format |
| Search box | Global text search across all columns simultaneously |
Drag and drop a file onto the viewer area as an alternative to using the file picker.
Transaction Columns Explained
The viewer extracts the following data from each :61: statement line and associated :86: narrative field:
| Column | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DTBOOKED | :61: field (first 6 digits) | Booking date (when the transaction was booked to the account), normalized to YYYY-MM-DD |
| DTVALUE | :61: field (optional MMDD segment) | Value date (when funds become available), normalized to YYYY-MM-DD |
| DC | :61: D/C indicator | Credit or Debit — shown as "Credit" or "Debit" for readability |
| AMOUNT | :61: amount field | Transaction amount. Credits are shown as positive; debits as negative values |
| TRNTYPE | :61: transaction type code | 4-letter SWIFT transaction type code (e.g., NTRF, NCHK, NSTO) |
| CUSTOMERREF | :61: customer reference | Customer's own reference number for the transaction (up to 16 characters) |
| BANKREF | :61: bank reference (after //) | Bank's own reference number for the transaction |
| NARRATIVE | :86: field | Free-form narrative text providing additional details about the transaction |
Columns are only shown if they contain at least one non-empty value in the loaded file.
Sorting Transactions
Click any column header to sort by that column. The AMOUNT column sorts numerically, correctly ordering positive credits and negative debits by value. Date columns sort chronologically. TRNTYPE and NARRATIVE sort alphabetically.
Click the same column header a second time to reverse the sort order. An arrow indicator in the header shows the current direction.
Filtering Transactions
Click the funnel icon in any column header to open the column filter panel. Two modes are available:
- Values tab: A checklist of all distinct values for that column. For the DC column, this lets you show only Credit or only Debit transactions. For TRNTYPE, it lets you filter to specific SWIFT transaction type codes.
- Conditions tab: Apply numeric or text conditions. For example: AMOUNT less than -1000 to see only large debits, or NARRATIVE contains a keyword to find specific transactions.
Multiple column filters combine with AND logic. A filter count badge appears in the stats bar — click it to clear all filters instantly.
Global Search
The search box in the toolbar performs a live search across all columns. Useful for finding a specific transaction by narrative text, bank reference, or amount without navigating to a specific column filter.
File Info Panel
The Info button opens a modal showing the total transaction count, column count, account number (from the :25: field), currency code, and closing balance. The column overview can be copied to clipboard for documentation or data mapping purposes.
Export Options
| Format | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV | Importing into ERP, treasury, or accounting systems | UTF-8 encoded; fields properly quoted; NULLs as empty strings |
| JSON | Developer pipelines and API integrations | Array of objects with MT940 field names as keys |
| Excel (.xlsx) | Sharing with finance teams | Frozen header row; auto-sized columns; includes attribution sheet |
| TSV | Tab-delimited targets | Useful when narrative text contains commas |
Export scope can be set to Filtered view (only currently visible rows) or Full file (all transactions).
Privacy & Security
MT940 files contain sensitive financial data including account numbers, transaction histories, and balance information. The viewer processes all data inside your browser using JavaScript — nothing is transmitted to any server. Your data remains private on your device and is cleared when you close the tab.
Use Cases
- Treasury statement review: Open MT940 statements from your bank's file delivery system and browse the day's transactions without importing to your ERP first.
- Reconciliation preparation: Filter transactions by TRNTYPE or date range to isolate the entries that need to be matched against ledger records.
- Data conversion: Convert MT940 files to CSV for import into systems that don't natively support the SWIFT format.
- Developer testing: Inspect MT940 field content when building or debugging a SWIFT parser to confirm your output matches the source data.
- Cross-border payment verification: Review :86: narrative fields for incoming international transfers to check remittance information.