CAMT.053 Format

What is CAMT.053?

CAMT.053 is the ISO 20022 message type for bank-to-customer account statements. It is the XML-based successor to SWIFT MT940 and provides significantly richer, more structured financial data. “CAMT” stands for Cash Management, and “053” identifies it as the complete statement report (as opposed to CAMT.052 for intraday reports or CAMT.054 for debit/credit notifications).

ISO 20022 is the global standard for financial messaging, developed by the International Organization for Standardization. CAMT.053 is one of its most widely adopted message types.

XML Structure

CAMT.053 uses a deeply nested XML structure within the namespace urn:iso:std:iso:20022:tech:xsd:camt.053.001.XX (where XX is the version number). The root element is Document, containing a BkToCstmrStmt (Bank-to-Customer Statement) element.

Key structural elements include:

• GrpHdr — Group Header with message identification and creation timestamp
• Stmt — Statement container (multiple allowed per document)
• Stmt/Acct — Account identification (IBAN, BIC, currency)
• Stmt/Bal — Balance information (opening, closing, available)
• Stmt/Ntry — Individual entries (transactions)
• Ntry/NtryDtls/TxDtls — Detailed transaction information (parties, references, remittance)

With over 200 possible fields and nesting up to 10 levels deep, CAMT.053 can express far more detail than MT940 — including structured creditor/debtor information, purpose codes, and end-to-end transaction references.

Versions

Multiple versions of CAMT.053 are in active use across different banks and regions:

• 001.02 — Widely deployed, common in European banking
• 001.04 — Adopted by many banks post-2015
• 001.08 — Latest version, required for SWIFT ISO 20022 migration

Each version extends the schema with additional optional fields while maintaining backward compatibility for core elements.

Who Uses CAMT.053?

CAMT.053 is mandated by the European Payments Council for SEPA transactions and is rapidly being adopted globally as part of SWIFT’s ISO 20022 migration. Banks, corporate treasuries, payment processors, and fintech companies all consume or produce CAMT.053 messages.

Advantages Over MT940

CAMT.053 offers structured party information (not just free text), standardized transaction codes, support for multiple currencies per statement, richer remittance data, and XML schema validation. It eliminates the ambiguity of MT940’s bank-specific :86: tag variations.

Why FinConvert?

FinConvert’s CAMT.053 parser supports versions 001.02 through 001.08, handles namespace resolution automatically, and extracts the full depth of transaction detail. All field mappings are validated against the official ISO 20022 message definitions.