Implementing ISO 20022 Corporate-to-Bank standards on SWIFT
Rulebook now available
What corporates expect/want from standards – and how SWIFT is helping to meet expectations/requirements
Published on 15 May 2008
From rationalisation of standards to ensuring automation
Standardisation is a major requirement of corporates using SWIFT to initiate payments with their banks. Using a single standard in a standardised way to initiate payments and track payment status helps corporates and banks to automate their payment and reconciliation processes.
A number of steps have been taken to make this goal a reality.
Step 1 : Common development
SWIFT, as part of ISTH (SWIFT, IFX, OAGi, TWIST), invited the banking community, corporates and application providers to jointly develop a set of ISO 20022 standards for payment initiation, focusing on the end-to-end processes and taking into account domestic, regional and cross-border requirements. This information-rich and structured ISO 20022 set of standards is available on
www.iso20022.org.
Step 2 : Common interpretation
Understanding the standard in the same way is key to ensure common usage by all parties.
A comprehensive ISO 20022 Message Usage Guide, developed by ISTH is available on
www.iso200222.org. It explains in detail the different components of the standard and illustrates how the standard can be used.
The guide complements the basic ISO 20022 documentation (ie the Message Definition Report (PDF) and message schemas available.
Step 3 : Common implementation
A standard only becomes a standard when it is implemented and used.
In order to help the industry achieve standardised adoption, SWIFT launched its Early Adopters Programme for ISO 20022 Payment Initiation, bringing corporates, banks, application providers and consultants together to share implementation experiences. Their cooperation resulted in a
SWIFT for Corporates – ISO 20022 Rulebook for Payment Initiation (Customer Credit Transfer Initiation and Payment Status Report) ,
which will/should be the foundation for any party implementing these standards in a global environment.
This rulebook contains a set of best practices and recommendations focusing on technical, operational and business rules and guidelines, which are valid for any payment type.
Links to community defined ‘implementation profiles’ for specific payment types, such as the harmonized set of implementation guidelines for SEPA which are currently under development by EPC, will be provided as soon as these profiles are available.
In order to foster standardised usage on SWIFT, parties using the standards on FileAct should adhere to the rules and guidelines described in the Rulebook (as of 15 November 2008).
SWIFT is also working closely together with third-party application vendors to ensure Rulebook implementation. Adherence to the Payment Initiation Rulebook is one of the 2008 Partner Labelling Criteria for Cash Management in the customer-to-bank space.
By summer, SWIFT will deliver a set of SMART test messages, reflecting the rules and guidelines of the Rulebook, geared at facilitating implementation and testing by all stakeholders.
Step 4 : Common usage
In order to continue the dialogue and foster common usage, a community on swiftcommunity.net has been set up to post questions, comments and ‘work in progress’ materials. As adoption of the standards grows, it will help to monitor evolving market practice around the globe, to find common solutions and promote a consistent implementation, truly cashing in on the benefits of a common standard.
Bank-to-customer Account Reporting – update
The same approach is underway for implementing Bank-to-Customer Account Reporting standards. SWIFT is working with ISTH and the SWIFT community to define an ISO 20022 Message Usage Guide and a Rulebook. These will be delivered later in 2008.
Standards Smart Test Messages for SCORE
This is a ready-to-use set of test messages, with realistic ‘smart' business data. Smart Test Messages cover both positive and negative test cases, and speed up implementation by reducing manual effort. Use of the Smart Test Messages saves time and effort for the customer by creating test messages manually.
Smart Test Messages contain codes that are easily replaceable, such as BIC and IBAN, with data to match the customer's system. A zip file is available for download, containing the entire test set, including release letter, user guide and all the smart test messages:
Additional Smart Test Messages can be found on
swift.com>Solutions>Standards>Implementing Standards for different business area:
(*) Part of the SEPA test programme
Early corporate and bank adopters:
Arcelor Mittal, Danone, Gaz de France, General Electric, Microsoft, together with the banks ABN Amro, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Mizuho, Nordea, Royal Bank of Canada, Standard Chartered Bank Ltd., Société Générale
More information