Swift extends ISO 20022 across entire payment chain

It worked with 14 banks globally, to standardise payments.

Swift is extending ISO 20022 across its entire payment chain, aimed at enabling banks to access ready-to-use and white-labelled tracking services at a click of a button.

In a press announcement, Swift said that it will help banks offer their customers ready-made and white-labelled payment tracking services by API or messaging channel. This is expected to give complete transparency on a payment’s status as well as confirmation of its receipt.
 
Swift formed a working group with 25 leading cash management banks and 20 sector-leading corporates, including Roche and Saudi Aramco, in standardising payments end-to-end with ISO 20022. 

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“The goal is to introduce a universal standard that can maximise the benefit of ISO 20022’s richer, more structured data, facilitating automation and reconciliation and drastically reducing integration costs,” Swift said in a press release.

Currently, corporate payments are complicated by competing standards and proprietary formats, with banking providers offering varying features and services. Companies face different processes for each bank they work with.

With payment tracking data standardised, financial institutions will be able to offer the same experiences across companies regardless of geographical reach or local investment, Swift said.
 
Swift expects adoption of ISO 20022 to improve cross-border payments.

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“Capturing rich data at source will enhance the entire ecosystem, driving us closer to our goals of instant and frictionless transactions,” said Thierry Chilosi, chief strategy officer at Swift.
 
Many members of Swift’s working group are also implementing and piloting the new capabilities, and Swift intends to extend them to its wider community later in 2024.

Fourteen banks are part of the working group, including Bank of America, Barclays, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Citi, CTBC, DBS, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, MUFG, Santander, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and UniCredit.

Companies in the working group are ABB Capital AG, Airbus, Alibaba, ArcelorMittal Treasury, Bayer, Booking.com, Dassault Systemes, DFS, Eskom, Johnson Controls, Merck, Midea Group, Roche, Saudi Aramco, and Ingka (Ikea). 

Other partners include Kyriba, FIS, and EFIS.