MT191 — Request for Payment of Charges, Interest and Other Expenses
Request for reimbursement of charges and interest incurred on a customer payment. Inverse of MT190 (post-hoc advice): MT191 actively requests settlement.
Purpose
A correspondent bank has advanced charges on a payment (clearing, taxes, FX conversion) and asks for reimbursement from the ordering bank. Common practice in USD corridors via Citibank, JPMorgan, BNY Mellon.
Block 4 structure
| Tag | Name | Status |
|---|---|---|
:20: | Transaction Reference Number | Mandatory |
:21: | Related Reference (original MT103) | Mandatory |
:32B: | Currency, Amount | Mandatory |
:52A: | Ordering Institution | Optional |
:71B: | Details of Charges | Mandatory |
:72: | Sender to Receiver Information | Optional (settlement instructions) |
Real-world example
Citibank requests 25 USD from BNP Paribas as reimbursement of USD clearing processing fee:
{1:F01CITIUS33XXXX0000000000}{2:I191BNPAFRPPXXXXN}{4:
:20:REQ260518001
:21:REF20260514001
:32B:USD25,00
:71B:/CHRG/PROCESSING FEE FOR USD CLEARING
:72:/ACC/PLEASE REIMBURSE TO OUR ACCOUNT WITH JPMORGAN NEW YORK
-}{5:{CHK:JKL012345678}}Common pitfalls
- No settlement instructions — tag
:72:should indicate how to pay (nostro account, currency, ...). - Disproportionate amount — MT191 must represent actually incurred, justifiable charges.
- Excessive delay — MT191 issued 30+ days after MT103 is often disputed.
MX equivalent
Replaced by camt.106 (Charges Per Single Transaction) in ISO 20022. More structured for per-charge type breakdown.