How can SWIFT messaging collaborate and coordinate with other ISO 20022 stakeholders and communities?

1 The benefits of ISO 20022

ISO 20022 is a flexible and adaptable framework that can accommodate different business needs and requirements. It can support richer and more granular data, enabling better risk management, compliance, and customer service. It can also facilitate cross-border and cross-domain transactions, reducing costs and complexity. ISO 20022 is not a single message format, but a set of standards, methodologies, and tools that can be used to create and maintain messages for various domains and functions.

2 The challenges of ISO 20022 adoption

Despite its advantages, ISO 20022 adoption is not a simple or straightforward process. It requires a significant amount of coordination, collaboration, and alignment among different stakeholders and communities, such as regulators, market infrastructures, banks, payment service providers, and fintechs. It also involves technical, operational, and strategic changes, such as migrating legacy systems, harmonizing data models, and defining business rules and best practices. Moreover, ISO 20022 adoption is not uniform or consistent across regions and sectors, creating fragmentation and interoperability issues.

3 The role of SWIFT messaging

SWIFT messaging is a key player in the ISO 20022 landscape, as it provides a secure and reliable platform for exchanging financial messages among over 11,000 institutions in more than 200 countries. SWIFT messaging is also a major contributor to the development and maintenance of ISO 20022 standards, as it participates in various working groups and committees within the ISO organization. SWIFT messaging is also committed to supporting its customers and partners in their ISO 20022 journeys, by offering guidance, resources, and solutions.

4 The opportunities for SWIFT messaging

SWIFT messaging has the potential to collaborate and coordinate with other ISO 20022 stakeholders, creating value for the financial industry. This includes enhancing products and services to enable seamless and efficient ISO 20022 transactions, promoting and facilitating the harmonization of messages across different domains, engaging customers and partners on the benefits of ISO 20022 adoption, and innovating with new technologies that leverage ISO 20022 data. Examples of this include the SWIFT Translator, SWIFT Standards Developer Kit, SWIFT gpi service, SWIFT High Value Payments Plus initiative, SWIFT CBPR+ group, SWIFT ISO 20022 Harmonisation Framework, SWIFT ISO 20022 Programme, SWIFT ISO 20022 Knowledge Centre, SWIFT ISO 20022 Readiness Portal, SWIFT API Platform, SWIFT Digital Asset Innovation Lab, and the SWIFT ISO 20022 Proof of Concept.

5 The best practices for SWIFT messaging

SWIFT messaging can also follow some best practices to ensure successful and smooth collaboration and coordination with other ISO 20022 stakeholders and communities. This includes adopting a customer-centric and collaborative approach by listening to customer needs, aligning with global and regional regulatory requirements, communicating information and insights clearly, and learning and adapting. Furthermore, SWIFT should support their customers’ compliance efforts, provide consistent messages, create relevant content, monitor progress, and adjust strategies to ensure optimal results.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?