MT940 Viewer Tutorial: Open, Filter & Export MT940 Files

STEP 1

Find the MT940 Viewer

Open your browser and navigate to financialdatatools.com/viewers/mt940-viewer/. The viewer works in any modern browser on desktop or laptop.

You'll see the empty viewer with an "Open File" button in the toolbar and a bank icon in the center.

STEP 2

Get Your MT940 File

MT940 files are typically delivered through:

• Your bank's online banking file download area (look for "SWIFT", "MT940", or "Statement Export")
• Your bank's host-to-host or EBICS file delivery service
• Treasury management or ERP systems that store received bank statements

The file will usually have a .mt940, .sta, .swift, or .txt extension. All are supported.

STEP 3

Open the File in the Viewer

Load your MT940 file in one of two ways:

• Click the Open File button in the toolbar and select your file.
• Drag and drop your file directly onto the viewer window.

The viewer parses the SWIFT tagged-field structure and displays the transactions immediately.

STEP 4

Understand the Transaction Grid

The grid shows each :61: statement line from your MT940 file as a row. Columns typically include:

• DTBOOKED — Booking date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• DTVALUE — Value date (when funds are available)
• DC — Credit or Debit
• AMOUNT — Transaction amount. Credits are positive; debits are negative
• TRNTYPE — SWIFT transaction type code (e.g., NTRF for transfer, NCHK for check)
• CUSTOMERREF — Your reference for the transaction
• BANKREF — The bank's reference for the transaction
• NARRATIVE — Text from the :86: field with additional transaction details

STEP 5

Sort by Amount or Date

Click any column header to sort by that field. Useful examples:

• Click AMOUNT once for ascending order (most negative debits first), again for descending (largest credits first)
• Click DTBOOKED to view transactions in chronological order
• Click DC to group all Credits together and all Debits together

STEP 6

Filter Transactions

Click the funnel icon in a column header to open the filter panel:

• DC column filter (Values tab): Uncheck "Debit" to see only credit transactions, or uncheck "Credit" to see only debits.
• TRNTYPE filter (Values tab): Filter to specific SWIFT transaction type codes — useful if you want to see only incoming transfers (NTRF) or only checks (NCHK).
• AMOUNT filter (Conditions tab): Set conditions like "greater than 10000" to see large incoming payments, or "less than -5000" for significant outflows.
• NARRATIVE filter (Conditions tab): Use "contains" to search for specific remittance information within the :86: narrative text.

STEP 7

Use Global Search

The search box at the top of the viewer searches all columns simultaneously. Type any text — a reference number, a counterparty name, or a partial amount — to instantly filter the visible rows.

STEP 8

Review File Info

Click the Info button to see a summary of the loaded file including account number (from the :25: field), currency, closing balance, and total transaction count. This is useful for a quick sanity check before exporting.

STEP 9

Export Your Transactions

Click the Export button in the toolbar. Choose a format:

• CSV — Best for importing into ERP systems, accounting software, or spreadsheets
• Excel (.xlsx) — Best for sharing with colleagues who want a formatted workbook
• JSON — Best for feeding into scripts or APIs
• TSV — Useful when narrative text contains commas

Choose Filtered view to export only the transactions currently visible, or Full file to export all transactions. Click Download to save.