BAI2 codes list: every type code, what it means, credit or debit

Every amount in a BAI2 file carries a three-digit type code that says what the number is: a balance, a daily total, or one transaction, and whether that transaction is money in or money out. This page explains how the codes are organized, lists the ones you'll see most often in plain words, and then gives the full list of 473 codes with a search box, so you can look up the code on a line of your bank's file.

1. How to read a type code in a BAI2 file

Here is the first day of the sample file. The 03 record names the account and currency, then lists pairs of a type code and an amount. Amounts have no decimal point: they're in cents, so 4821537 is 48,215.37.

03,0975312468,USD,010,4821537,,,015,5038596,,,040,4821537,,/
88,045,4854571,,,100,1009025,2,,400,791966,4,/
16,165,325000,0,000412,,ACH CREDIT NORTHWIND RETAIL INV 10422
16,475,120000,0,000415,1043,/

A status code is followed by an amount and a blank item count; a summary code by an amount and an item count; a detail record has one code, one amount, a funds type, the bank and customer references, and free text. The amount is never signed. The code alone says whether it's money in or money out, which is why a list like this one matters. The record layout itself (01 to 99) is covered on BAI2 to CSV.

2. Code ranges at a glance

3. The codes you'll see most

A typical operating account's previous-day file uses a few dozen codes again and again. These are the ones people look up most, with what they usually mean in practice. Your bank may use a more specific code for the same thing (for example 169 instead of 142 for an ACH credit), so check the full list below when a code isn't here.

4. Full BAI2 codes list

All 473 codes: the BAI2 code list plus the four real-time payment codes added later. Type a code (475) or a word (transfer, lockbox, fee) to filter. Wires are listed as money transfers. Level is status (a balance), summary (a total) or detail (one transaction).

No code matches. Codes 900–999 are bank-defined; check your bank's BAI2 guide.

5. Codes that aren't in the list

• 158, 159, 458, 459 (real-time / instant payments). These came into use after the original list, for RTP and later FedNow payments: 158 is one instant payment received, 458 one sent, and 159 / 459 are the totals. ASC X9, which has maintained the BAI2 format since 2008, now proposes calling the category "Instant Payment" while keeping the same codes.
• 900–999. Each bank defines its own. One bank's 901 has nothing to do with another's, so the only reliable source is that bank's BAI2 or information-reporting guide.
• Banks that reuse a code. A few banks use a summary code as a detail code, or the other way round. KeyBank's published list, for example, uses 690 for a miscellaneous debit transaction and 760 for a commercial loan debit, where the BAI2 list has 690 Total Miscellaneous Debits and 760 Loan Disbursement. The range still tells you the direction: anything from 400 to 699 is money out.
• A code you can't find anywhere. Ask the bank. Don't guess the sign of a 700, 800 or 900 code from its name.

6. How the codes add up: the balance check

For each account and day, the opening ledger plus the detail credits minus the detail debits should equal the closing ledger, and the detail amounts should add up to the 100 and 400 totals. In the sample's first day:

When it doesn't tie, the usual reasons are a detail code outside 100–699 (a loan, 890 or bank-defined code the bank counts in the balance), a file that was cut short (the 49, 98 and 99 trailers carry control totals and record counts for exactly this), or a current-day (intraday) file, which often has no closing ledger yet.

7. Turn a BAI2 file into a spreadsheet

Looking up codes one by one is fine for a single line. For a whole file, BAI2 to CSV reads every 16 record into a row with the as-of date, a description (the bank's text, or the code's name from this list when there is none) and a signed amount: codes 100–399 positive, 400–699 negative. It runs the balance check above for every account and day and checks the trailer totals. Loan (700s), 890 and bank-defined 900s codes are left out and listed rather than guessed, so a day that doesn't tie tells you why. The same preview downloads OFX, QuickBooks .QBO or .IIF and Quicken .QIF. It reads BAI version 2 only and doesn't write BAI2 files.

Other bank file formats: MT940 to CSV (SWIFT statements; fields explained in MT940 format) and CAMT.053 to CSV (ISO 20022 XML).

Sources, checked November 8, 2026: the BAI Cash Management Balance Reporting Specifications Version 2 code list as republished in bank BAI2 guides (HSBC's BAI2 and ISO transaction codes, East West Bank's BAI2 Reporting Reference Guide, KeyBank's BAI2 Transmission Toolkit and parameter codes), and ASC X9's notes on the real-time payment codes 158, 159, 458 and 459. Codes and names are as published; the "What it usually is" notes are ours.

FAQ

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• MT940 format explained: every field, with a real example
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• Free sample bank statement files: PDF, CSV, QBO, IIF, QIF and Xero CSV

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