MT202 COV — Cover Payment
Variant of MT202 imposed November 2009 by FATF/FinCEN/Wolfsberg Group to restore KYC transparency on cover payments. The only MT allowed to cover an MT103 without routing the client in clear through correspondents.
Purpose
MT202 COV settles between correspondent banks the cover of a customer MT103. Where serial MT202 (no cover) carried only the financial agents, MT202 COV duplicates verbatim the ordering / beneficiary / remittance blocks of the underlying MT103. This is the industry response to FATF Recommendation 16 (originator information must travel with the payment).
Additional tags (vs MT202)
| Tag | Name | Status |
|---|---|---|
:50a: | Ordering Customer (copied from MT103) | Mandatory |
:59a: | Beneficiary Customer (copied from MT103) | Mandatory |
:70: | Remittance Information (copied) | Conditional |
:33B: | Currency / Instructed Amount from MT103 | Mandatory if present in MT103 |
:71A: | Details of Charges (OUR/SHA/BEN) | Mandatory |
The :21: tag must point at the :20: of the underlying MT103 (strict linkage).
Real-world example
USD 18,750 cover for ACME Export SARL MT103 to Global Trading Inc via Chase NYC to Citi NYC:
{1:F01BNPAFRPPAXXX0000000000}{2:I202CHASUS33XXXXN}{3:{108:COV20260518011}{121:8b7a6c5d-4e3f-2a1b-9c8d-7e6f5a4b3c2d}}{4:
:20:COV20260518011
:21:REF103-20260518002
:32A:260518USD18750,00
:50K:/FR7630006000011234567890189
ACME EXPORT SARL
8 QUAI DE LA RAPEE
75012 PARIS
:52A:BNPAFRPPXXX
:53A:BNPAUS33XXX
:56A:CHASUS33XXX
:57A:CITIUS33XXX
:58A:CITIUS33XXX
:59:/US987654321
GLOBAL TRADING INC
500 5TH AVE
NEW YORK NY 10110
:70:INVOICE 2026-INV-887 SHIPMENT FOB MARSEILLE
:33B:USD18750,00
:71A:SHA
:72:/INS/MT103 SAME DAY VALUE / COV PAYMENT
-}{5:{CHK:9876543210CA}}Common pitfalls
- No cover used: if the MT103 route includes a US correspondent, some banks reject a serial MT202 alone (OFAC screening).
- Truncated or missing :50a:: violates FATF R16 — red KYC flag.
- :21: = NONREF: must point to the :20: of the MT103 ; otherwise the receiver cannot match.
- Undocumented :32A: vs :33B: divergence: in case of FX, charges must be explained via :71F: or :71G:.
MX equivalent
The ISO 20022 equivalent is pacs.009.001.10 with
CdtTrfTxInf/UndrlygCstmrCdtTrf embedding a strictly structured copy
of the cover pacs.008. The Dbtr/Cdtr blocks carry the
final customer, exactly like :50a:/:59: in MT202 COV.