CODA vs CAMT: Belgian bank files explained
Updated 27 September 2026
Belgian accounting software often receives bank transactions as CODA, while newer banking integrations increasingly use ISO 20022 CAMT. Both can describe account movements, but they are not the same format and they do not always expose information in the same way.
CODA in one sentence
CODA is the Belgian banking statement format traditionally used to exchange coded account statements with accounting software. A CODA file is structured text with Belgian conventions for transactions, counterparties, communications and balances.
CAMT in one sentence
CAMT is part of the international ISO 20022 XML family. camt.053 is commonly used for account statements, while related messages such as camt.052 and camt.054 cover reporting and debit/credit notifications.
Which one should you use?
- If your accountant, ERP or Belgian banking channel asks for CODA, keep CODA: it remains widely supported in Belgian bookkeeping.
- If your bank or integration gives you CAMT, do not convert it just because CODA is familiar. CAMT can carry richer structured data and is designed for international interoperability.
- If you are reconciling two exports, compare the actual transactions rather than the raw text: field names and structure differ.
Open them without uploading them
Use the CODA viewer or CAMT viewer to inspect balances and movements locally in your browser. If you received an unknown file, start with the Belgian file detector. For migration or reconciliation work, the bank statement comparison normalises the statements before comparing them.
Dutch search terms you may encounter include rekeninguittreksel and CODA-bestand; in French, extrait de compte and fichier CODA.