Solution
Just as you receive your account statements, you can also receive an XML CAMT file, i.e., a coded account statement for accounting and financial purposes. This file includes the transactions made on your various accounts, currency by currency, and is ready for download.
How does it work?
- A unique code identifies each entry on your account in the structured XML B2C CAMT (Bank to Customer Cash Management Message) format, which complies with international ISO standards (ISO 20022). The XML structure is based on the principle of tagging: each data element is surrounded by ‘tags’ that define it.
- Your computer system recognises the file. It can automatically allocate certain items within your accounting or cash management system.
- You can choose between several types of reporting (which you can combine):
- An end-of-day report (XML CAMT.053), with or without details of global transactions;
- One or more separate reports containing only the details of a specific type of transaction (XML CAMT.054 – see list below);
- A report during the day (an intraday report – XML CAMT.052).
- A file that is too large – exceeding the size you have pre-set – will be split into several files.
- An XML CAMT.053 or XML CAMT.054 report is generated daily each evening or when a transaction has been recorded on the account.
Advantages
- Simple and efficient: you no longer have to manually enter your account statements in your accounting software.
- Reconciliation: standardised account statement data that can be automatically sent to your accounting software. This data can also help you with reconciliation (e.g., between your invoices and your customers’ payments, based on references & transaction codes).
- Input for your dashboard software, which can easily calculate ratios and statistics.
- A wide range of different XML CAMT.054 reports:
- Details of VCS transactions (transfers with a set communication structure) globalised by the bank;
- Details of non-executed SDD transactions, possibly globalised by the bank;
- Details of globalised Point-Of-Sale (POS) transactions;
- All credit transactions of the day;
- All SEPA credit transactions of the day received on your behalf;
- Details of bulk credit transfers sent by the customer relating to non-salary payments;
- Details of bulk credit transfers sent by the customer relating to salary payments;
- Details of SDD collections/reversals received by the customer.
- Accessible via different channels:
- XML CAMT.053 and CAMT.054 reports are available via Easy Banking Business, Isabel, Connexis Cash, SwiftNet Fileact, E-Link or EBICS in two standards: Febelfin or CGI (Common Global Implementation ‘business practice group hosted by Swift’)
- XML CAMT.052 reports are currently available via Easy Banking Business or API.
Good to know
- XML CAMT reporting may be newer than Coda or Swift reporting, but it offers the most advantages:
- It will become the norm for interbank exchanges in 2025 and is therefore futureproof.
- It is an international standard, unlike Coda, which is a standard limited to Belgium.
- Thanks to its tag system, there are no character limits, unlike with Coda, which is limited to 128 characters per line.
- It is more extensive than the Swift MT94x reports.
- XML CAMT files can be generated for:
- Current accounts (euro and other currencies);
- Savings accounts.
- For your convenience, the Belgian CODA coding is included next to the ISO XML coding.
- An XML file can be provided as a translation of a Swift foreign account statement message (MBR IN) into Connexis Cash, SwiftNet Fileact, E-Link or EBICS.