MT 420 Explained: Tracer (Collections)

MT 420 is a follow-up message — the remitting bank chasing the collecting bank for a status update when it hasn't received any word on a collection it forwarded, whether that's an acknowledgement, payment, acceptance, or a reason for refusal. It exists because collections, unlike LCs, have no strict deadline forcing a response.

Key fields

• 20 — Sender's Reference: Reference for the trace request.
• 21 — Related Reference: The original collection instruction being chased.
• 30 — Date of Original Instruction: When the collection was first sent, for context on how overdue a response is.
• 76 — Query: Free text — the actual trace request, asking for a status update.

A tracer doesn't change anything about the underlying collection — it's purely a nudge — but a pattern of unanswered tracers on a particular drawee or collecting bank is often a useful early signal that something's wrong beyond just slow paperwork.