ISO 20022 in bytes for payments: One month to go

The four elements comprising the changes for Payment Instructions that will take place on 22 November 2025:

• Standards Release 2025 (SR2025) – MT (FIN)
• Standards Release 2025 (SR2025) – ISO 20022 (FINplus) See the Release Note for details.
• ISO 20022 end of coexistence – the coexistence period for the migration to ISO 20022 of cross-border payment instructions exchanged between Financial Institutions (SUPE and/or NOSU categories) is scheduled to end on 22 November 2025. For more information, see Knowledge Base article 6000054.
• Contingency processing for cross-border payment instructions will be activated. The complete rules description is documented under the Standards Release Guide 2025 in the Knowledge Centre in two documents:
  • Contingency Processing Network Validated Rules
  • Contingency Processing FIN Error Codes

The general maintenance window is between Saturday 15:00 GMT and Sunday 05:00 GMT.

Check Operational Status page. Ensure your operational staff are ready to perform operational checks after the maintenance window.

Check Knowledge Centre article 5025675 Standards Release 2025 Activation planned during Maintenance Window 22-23 November 2025 (including contingency processing) for latest updates.

We recommend that you expect the best outcome but also prepare for any operational issue:

• Before 15:00 GMT on Saturday, ensure all pending FIN and FINplus messages are transmitted. Compliance teams should approve or reject all pending MT and ISO 20022 messages.
• Ensure your operational processes for standards release activation are ready.
• Ensure you are prepared -- and have access to -- our troubleshooting guides in case you need support (see the troubleshooting section of the ISO 20022 support page).

Refer to the CBPR+ translation portal for details on how MT messages translate to ISO 20022 messages. To gain access, make a request in the portal. (Please note that it may take 3-5 days for your access to be activated.)

Check the ISO 20022 support page for available resources and online help.

• The momentum for ISO 20022 migration continues to grow, with 32 RTGS PMIs adopting the new standard.
• We continue to see Payment Market Infrastructures (PMIs) prepare their own domestic solutions to enable ISO 20022 for payments – with many still intending to migrate before November 2025. Most recently we saw Taiwan, Poland and Albania celebrate successful migrations, meaning that a significant number of Swift-connected PMIs have now enabled ISO 20022 for their participants. These PMIs account for an impressive 84.6% of Swift’s global PMI traffic volume.
• Swift’s ISO Accelerator Pack remains a valuable resource for helping PMIs fast-track their migration and realise the benefits of ISO 20022 adoption. 

Reminder: What is Case Management?

Case Management promotes operational efficiency by centrally facilitating the exchange of messages for both E&I and payment cancellation (Stop and Recall) purposes. As part of the migration to ISO 20022, Case Management supports the use of structured MX messages (camt.110/111 for E&I and camt.056/029 for payment cancellations) – delivering message clarity and enabling automation of processes. Full usage of Case Management will be mandatory beginning November 2027.

Latest news and updates

• Updated KB Article: See full migration timelines and product scope
• New Technical Materials: Case Orchestrator (for E&I) User Guide and Rulebook Advanced Information for SR2025
• Adoption Status (as of October 25): 140 banks live and 145 banks testing

Cash reporting messages (camt.052/053/054) will be available from Standards Release 2025 in November and the Usage Guidelines are already available. By bringing ISO 20022 to SCORE, we’re ensuring the community can capture richer data capture at the source and enable end-to-end data preservation throughout the payment chain.

Payment initiation messages (pain.001 and pain.002) are already live for corporate-to-bank exchange for all SCORE participants.

To help corporates in their ISO 20022 journey, we’ve provided: 

• Usage Guidelines: SCOREPlus SR2025 (Cash Management) 
• Usage Guidelines: SCOREPlus SR2025 (Payment Initiation)
• How Swift is transforming the corporate payment experience: Webinar recording
• ISO 20022 for corporates | Swift.com
• FAQs
• Knowledge Centre dedicated support page

We’re pleased to announce that the redesigned MT vs MX Flows dashboard is now available to all Observer Analytics users. The updated view offers a richer and more complete picture of your messaging performance and costs in your ISO 20022 migration journey:

• Clearer visuals to compare MT/MX flows and spot key trends quickly
• New metrics such as speed and deducted charges for deeper performance insights
• Flexible filters to analyse by counterparty, currency and message type

The legacy version of the dashboard will be decommissioned on 30 December. We encourage you to start using the redesigned dashboard now to take full advantage of its improved features. For more information, visit the Observer Analytics homepage.

Join us for the third and final edition of our cross-border payments efficiency webinar series, where we explore how financial institutions can optimise payment costs while maintaining speed and transparency for all payment messages.

This session will dive into how optimising deducted charges helps improve payment efficiency, supports better customer outcomes and aligns with global goals such as the G20’s roadmap to evolve cross-border payments.

Register here

What to expect:

• Learn how to identify and reduce message charges by all participants in cross-border transactions.
• Assess where FX currency conversion had been processed in the payment chain.
• Find out how cost optimisation complements transparency and speed to deliver a holistic payment experience.

Don’t forget to listen to the previous edition of our webinar series to learn how Swift’s Observer portfolio helps financial institutions benchmark, monitor and enhance the Transparency KPI in line with G20 cross-border payments targets.

Listen to the recording

As the ISO 20022 coexistence period draws nearer to a close, an opportunity begins – transforming migration into measurable value. Ensuring high-quality structured data in every message you send or receive is key to maximising interoperability, improving automation, and achieving frictionless payments.

Swift’s Data Quality Analytics helps you monitor, analyse and enhance the quality of your ISO 20022 messages, giving you full insight into where data can be improved for operational efficiency and compliance excellence. With built-in benchmarking and Transaction Manager Business Validation rules reporting, Data Quality Analytics enables you to turn data quality into business advantage.

See how Data Quality Analytics can elevate your payments – explore the solution today.

As we approach the end of coexistence, we need business application providers to ensure that their systems are upgraded for SR 2025 and additional FIN validation rules for Contingency Processing. 

For 2026, payments applications must be ready to send and receive pacs messages in Hybrid Address format, the introduction of the FI-to-FI pain.001 relay and the exchange of camt.054 Debit Credit Notification (which triggers an embedded MT103/202 payment advice).

We encourage financial institutions to utilise the Translation Portal to facilitate their migration to ISO 20022. It is a highly valuable resource and free of charge. Vendors can be granted access to the Translation Portal in three scenarios, all based on purchasing a payable license:

• A simple license to access the CBPR+ Translation Portal (CBPR+ Translation Library),
• A license to enable the embedding of the Translator in your application (Embedded Translator Runtime),
• An option to enable custom programming (Embedded Translator Designer)

Finally, the Self-Attestation window will reopen November 2025, and partners must meet the mandatory requirement of the form and perform relevant testing to be listed on Swift.com.