FAQ Swift ISO 20022

ISO 20022 is a messaging standard that creates a common language for payment data across the globe, enabling faster processing and improved reconciliation. The ISO 20022 standard is already in use for years for SEPA transactions. SWIFT has introduced ISO 20022 for Financial Institutions in March 2023 for cross border payments and reporting (SWIFT CBPR+ ). This SWIFT ISO 20022 migration is a global initiative, which aims to achieve harmonized standards for the exchange of high-value and cross-border payment messages. Several Market Infrastructures, such as Target in Europe, have likewise already migrated to ISO 20022, or are on a migration path towards this standard.

With ISO 20022, a common language and model for payment data has been established. With ISO 20022, data will become richer, more structured and standardized. This is enabling efficient processing, interoperability between Market infrastructures,  more efficient monitoring and improved reconciliation.

Swift introduced ISO 20022 in March 2023.   As of November 2025, all payments messages between banks, both for sending and receiving must be based on ISO 20022. During the co-existence period, from March 2023 until November 2025, Financial Institutions are still allowed to send current MT messages. This period is meant for FI’s to be able to gradually adapt to the new ISO20022 standards. The adoption of ISO 20022 in market infrastructures differs per country/currency. A full overview of migration dates and adaptation approaches can be found on Opens in a new tabSWIFT Payment Market Practice Group document centre.

While the scope of this migration initially affects all Financial Institutions currently sending or receiving SWIFT MT messages, there are requirements imposed on these institutions that will have impact on their underlying customers.

CBPR+ is SWIFTs program for adopting ISO20022 for cross border payment and reporting messages in the correspondent banking space. The use of ISO 20022 messages in SWIFT cross-border payments will start in March 2023 with a coexistence phase up to November 2025, where the old MT messages for cross-border payments and cash reporting will be replaced. More information in SWIFTs ISO 20022 adoption program can be found on Opens in a new tabSWIFT ISO 200222 program.

The following MT messages will be migrated to ISO20022 messages starting March 2023:

These messages will replace current SWIFT MT messages. A full overview of messages covered by CBPR+ can be found on Opens in a new tabSWIFT ISO 20022 program

To enable standardization and end-to-end straight-through processing, SWIFT together with the CBPR+ working group (represented by the industry) defined a clear set of standard translation rules between ISO 20022 and MT for most of the messages. These will also be applied by SWIFTs Transaction Manager to avoid misinterpretation and/or divergent adoption of translation rules across banks and/or communities. 

Please access the Opens in a new tabSWIFT MyStandards platform, which is available to all SWIFT clients. It is the chosen tool to be used by the community as the primary source for ISO 20022 messages (e.g. CBPR+ Usage Guidelines) and it also gives you access to the Translation Portal where you can test translation rules.

As of March 2023, structured addresses information will be accepted for any payments initiated using ISO 20022.  In addition, any "new" ISO 20022 party elements (i.e. Ultimate Debtor, Ultimate Creditor, and Initiating Party) must contain structured addresses. During the co-existence period, unstructured address information can still exist also in ISO20022 messages in cases where Financial Institutions use translator tools and/or haven’t updated their front-end client infrastructure yet.  While unstructured address data will still be supported until November 2026, it is strongly recommended to start delivering structured address data with the introduction of ISO 20022 for payments exchanged via SWIFT. Complete and structured data is critical to the success of the initiative and an uninterrupted payment processing across the whole value chain. 

With like-for-like, ING is aiming to migrate to ISO 20022 without any changes to the content of previously used MT messages. Where possible, structured address information will be provided if not yet the case, but in this phase, ING is not focusing on making use of additional features ISO 20022 is offering on top of what is currently available in the current MT messages. This is in line with SWIFT recommendations, aiming to mitigate the truncation data issue, which comes together with rich data in the dual period.

Within ING an extensive program is in place, managing all ISO 20022 related changes, both for TARGET2, CBPR+ and other market infrastructures. The program is taking care of all changes for all ING locations worldwide and specifically for those locations servicing Financial Institutions. ING is committed to assure a smooth migration from the current MT message exchange to the new ISO 20022 messages. If you like to learn more on how ING is organized and is preparing for the ISO20022 migration, please contact your regular contact within ING.

You may contact your regular contact parties at ING for any questions.  Alternatively you can send your queries by email to Opens in a new tabcbprplus@ing.com.

Any questions concerning the readiness of your ERP / TMS (“vendor packages”) will need to be addressed directly to your vendors.

For the ISO migration, we will provide you with the format specifications. There will be a team that you can contact for technical issues during the migration period.

Any questions concerning the readiness of your ERP / TMS (“vendor packages”) will need to be addressed directly to your vendors.

ING follows SWIFT MyStandards for CBPR+; please use the instructions on Opens in a new tabSWIFT MyStandards to assure STP processing.

Next to that, for PSD compliant payments send via pacs.008, please make sure the following instructions are used:

• Both legs of the transaction are within EEA area (both ordering customer and beneficiary need to be within EEA area) and the currency of the transaction needs to be within EEA.
• Charge Bearer: only option SHAR is allowed
• Debtor: fields must be filled according to EU regulations on payer information
• Creditor Account: IBAN must be filled in for all the countries that adhered to this account format, including PSD2 transactions.

These requirements have not been changed compared to current STP requirements for MT103. If there are missing / incomplete details in the instruction, this will be considered as non-STP and an additional charge could be applied.

Since we provide clients payment services out of different ING locations worldwide, we have adopted a country-by-country approach. Country specific change plans are focused on local market infrastructure changes on the one hand, respecting the general CBPR+ principles on the other hand. For Financial Institutions making use of multiple ING locations for processing payment transactions, this might result in different timelines per country for receiving ISO 20022 messages send by ING. ING will however be fully reachable, being able to receive ISO20022 messages send to us as per March 2023.

Detailed information on timelines for implementing ISO 20022 messages (incoming and outgoing) per ING entity can be found on the Opens a pdfCBPR+ page.

The current priority of ING is on sending CBPR+ reporting messages for FIs and working on messages in scope of bilateral agreements (MT101, MT940/942). ING will therefore not change its current bilateral agreements with other Financial Institutions before further notice?

ING group entities will not accept receiving pain.001 and pain.002 messages, as defined in SWIFT CBPR+, from their counterparties until further notice. These messages will be blocked at the sender side as there is no RMA in place between ING and their counterparties for pain.001/pain.002 messages, so counterparties will not be able to submit them to any ING entities. We anticipate to gradually set up RMA with our counterparties for these messages after the release of November 2023 to start exchanging these messages.Please continue to send the corresponding SWIFT MT messages until further notice.

As of March 2023, structured addresses information will be accepted for any payments initiated using ISO 20022.  In addition, any "new" ISO 20022 party elements (i.e. Ultimate Debtor, Ultimate Creditor, and Initiating Party) must contain structured addresses. During the co-existence period, unstructured address information can still exist also in ISO20022 messages in cases where Financial Institutions use translator tools and/or haven’t updated their front-end client infrastructure yet.  While unstructured address data will still be supported until November 2026, it is strongly recommended to start delivering structured address data with the introduction of ISO 20022 for payments exchanged via SWIFT. Complete and structured data is critical to the success of the initiative and an uninterrupted payment processing across the whole value chain. 

The strategy of ING is to update all core payment platforms to be “native” ISO 20022 compatible. For those ING locations who are currently in the process of upgrading their payment infrastructure to the core platform of ING, a translator will be used as a short-term interim solution.

In case ING uses a translator to process incoming MX messages, ING will remain using the original MX message when applying KYC and money laundering processes to guarantee the same quality of processing as today. When acting as an intermediary bank, banks receiving MT notifications are advised to incorporate the Swift original message in their processes. In cases where a translator is used, the risk of data truncation occurs, effecting information provided to our clients.

Being participant of the ECB/TCCG (Target Consolidation Consultative Group), chair of the WG Interbank T2/T2 Consolidation in the Netherlands and member of the Swift Board, ING is highly committed making the migration to ISO20022 a success. You can expect from ING to be compliant with market infrastructure changes to ISO 20022 and with the SWIFT CBPR+ timelines for sending and receiving ISO 20022 messages. We will inform our clients on changes that will take place, both on the migration from MT to ISO 20022 as on specific content requirements that might change. Clients making use of INGs Target subparticipation services will be proactively informed on the implications of the T2 Consolidation project.

Now, that ING is successfully reachable for ISO payments, and also one of the first market players that sends ISO 20022 payment messages from the main ING countries, our priority are the rest of CBPR+ requirements, including the sending of CBPR+ reporting messages. The timelines differ per country. However, several of our big FI service locations, like ING Amsterdam, ING Brussels and ING Sofia, will be ready to start bilaterally testing and rolling of ISO 2022.

Based on client’s needs, ING Belgium (our main hub for offering intermediary services) and ING Amsterdam will be able support a dual phase, sending both MT950/940 and camt.053 messages. 

If your entity is interested in bilateral testing, pls reach out to us via your regular contact.

ING group is ready to receive Camt.052, Camt.053 and Camt.054 reporting messages (as defined in Swift CBPR+) based on mutual agreements of our correspondent banks and counterparties. We are willing to test and roll out receipt of these messages gradually.  ING will enable RMA’s for other banks on a case by case basis initially.

We anticipate to gradually test with our counterparties and set up RMAs to receive camt reporting, when both sides are sufficiently confident. Please continue to send the corresponding SWIFT MT messages until further notice.

Important! Some of ING entities are ready to start testing the receipt of reporting messages. If your institution is a correspondent and ready to test, pls contact us via your usual contact point within ING.

Although the current scope of the ISO20022 change is focused on Financial Institutions, Corporates most likely will have to adapt their ERP/TMS systems, to be able to process richer and structured name/address information of beneficiaries and fill in additional mandatory fields in the future. 

We advise:

• Take an inventory of your initiation (and reporting) formats
• Discuss with your ERP/TMS vendors on their capabilities/planning for support of the new formats and any potential benefits they offer for your specific situation
• Plan migration to ISO 20022 for any formats that do not support structured address information
• Review your counterparty name and address data for completeness, focusing on counterparties you pay through cross-border payments
• Update your counterparty data as and when possible.

Finally, leave room for updates to payment requirements as there is an expectation that the new formats will result in new requirements from correspondent banks.

The ISO 20022 pain.001.001.09 payment initiation format is now available for use with both host-to-host and interactive (file upload) channels.

ING is currently reviewing our payment initiation format strategy and will issue communications in Q3 2024 covering all initiation formats.

It is important to keep the requirement of structured address information in mind.  Formats that do not support this requirement are at risk of being decommissioned by November 2026, which is the revised end-date of unstructured address information in payment initiation formats.   It is therefore our strong recommendation to migrate to pain.001 in case you currently use an such an initiation format.

The pain.001.001.09 version extends the structured postal address data elements, in support of the structured address requirement of CBPR+ which will be mandatory from November 2025.  Likewise, extensions to structured remittance information and the addition of supplementary data elements enable clients to send far more information in their payments.  Finally, new identifiers, such as the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for parties and the Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference (UETR) are introduced in the pain.001.001.09 version.

Usage of these fields will depend on market adoption.

SWIFT has not set a deadline for corporate-to-bank use of the MT101 message.  However, there is a conflict between the unstructured nature of the MT101 and the requirement of CBPR+ for banks to deliver structured name and addresses to each other for cross-border payments by November 2025.  This is an ongoing discussion within the community.   To avoid the issue, it would be prudent to already plan migration to ISO 20022.

ING will make the new reporting formats available in Q2 2025 for some branches.  Initially the content of the new format will be in a "like for like" manner, where existing data attributes will be mapped.  Roll out of this format will be in a phased manner on a country-by-country basis.

However, it is not mandatory for corporates to adopt this new format and ING will not push for customers to migrate.

Initially, no new data attributes should be expected as this depends on multiple factors, such as counterparty banks supporting and sending them in payment and reporting messages and the ability of our systems to support them.  As the market and ING systems evolve, we will be introducing new data elements, such as the payment Unique End-to-end Reference (UETR), invoicer/invoicee BIC, into the messages.

There is no end-date with regards to ING sending out MT940/2 messages to our corporate clients.  However, as this is a format with limited room to contain potentially new data elements sent by counterparties, it is possible that new data elements will not be presented in the MT formats.

Yes, this can be arranged.

No.  From ING's perspective there is only one generic version.  However, use of data elements per ING branch may differ.