ISO 20022 Adoption Roadmap

The adoption of ISO 20022 is a significant step forward in transforming global financial messaging. For banks, the transition roadmap involves preparing systems, training staff, and managing coexistence with legacy formats. As outlined in SWIFT’s ISO 20022 Programme, this transition aims to be efficient and minimally disruptive, unlocking the benefits of rich, structured data. Here’s an overview of the adoption roadmap

1. Coexistence Period (2022–2025)

From November 2022 to November 2025, banks will operate in a coexistence phase, where both ISO 20022 and legacy MT messages are supported. This period allows financial institutions to gradually shift to ISO 20022 while maintaining legacy messaging systems, reducing the risk of operational disruptions.

During this phase, banks must:

  • Train staff on ISO 20022, its structured data format, and how it improves compliance and data accuracy.
  • Update infrastructure to handle both MT and ISO 20022 messages simultaneously.
  • Test systems with counterparties and ensure that message translation between formats is seamless.

2. Planning and Budgeting for Transition

Banks need to carefully plan their ISO 20022 transition strategy. The key areas to consider include:

  • System Enhancements: Upgrading back-office systems to process the richer data provided by ISO 20022.
  • Operational Adjustments: Adapting processes such as reconciliation, liquidity management, and compliance to support the new standard.
  • Vendor Integration: working with third-party vendors to ensure their solutions are ISO 20022-ready​

SWIFT has also provided support, such as webinars, training modules, and readiness assessments to help banks align their processes with ISO 20022.

3. Transaction Management Services

A key aspect of the transition involves Transaction Management Services provided by SWIFT. These services allow banks to handle both ISO 20022 and MT messages and provide backward compatibility with older systems. The goal is to:

  • Facilitate interoperability between messaging formats, enabling banks to adopt ISO 20022 at their own pace.
  • Maintain rich data throughout the transaction chain, even when messages are exchanged between institutions using different formats.

    • This platform ensures that no information is lost or “truncated,” a common issue with legacy MT messages.

4. ISO 20022-Based APIs and Messaging

Banks can choose to adopt ISO 20022 via APIs or messaging. APIs offer a more dynamic and flexible approach, allowing direct integration into business applications and real-time data exchange. SWIFT’s support for ISO 20022-based APIs helps banks:

  • Improve data transparency by allowing rich data to flow through the payment chain.
  • Integrate ISO 20022 messages into broader business applications and customer services​

5. Future Considerations

As the coexistence period ends in 2025, banks must fully transition to ISO 20022 for cross-border payments. This full adoption will allow banks to:

  • Offer enhanced customer services by utilizing the richer data and faster payment processing enabled by ISO 20022.
  • Leverage the future-proof nature of ISO 20022 to support emerging technologies like real-time payments and blockchain-based solutions.​

Road Ahead

As banks transition to ISO 20022, tools like ISO20022.XSD, ngx-iso-form, MessageServices, xsd-json-converter, and iso20022-cli will play critical roles in easing the process. These libraries, built on modern frameworks like .NET, Angular, and Node.js, provide the flexibility and automation necessary to handle the complex data and messaging standards of ISO 20022. By integrating these tools into their workflows, banks can significantly reduce the complexity of the adoption process, ensure compliance, and future-proof their systems for the complete transition by 2025.

Conclusion

The ISO 20022 adoption roadmap for banks ensures a smooth transition through coexistence, robust training, and technological upgrades. By 2025, the global banking community will have moved to a unified, more efficient messaging standard that delivers transparency, compliance, and innovation in cross-border payments.