ISO 20022

What it is

ISO 20022 is the international standard for electronic data interchange between financial institutions. Unlike its predecessors (e.g. SWIFT MT messages), it is a data model rather than a fixed message format — XML and JSON serialisations are both supported, and the underlying business semantics are captured in a shared dictionary.

Why it matters

• Richer data per transaction. Structured remittance information, full ultimate-debtor and ultimate-creditor identifiers, explicit purpose codes — material that AML, sanctions and fraud systems can act on.
• Cross-rails coverage. SWIFT, SEPA, T2/T2S, CBPR+, instant-payment schemes and many domestic real-time gross settlement systems all converge on ISO 20022.
• Migration timeline. The SWIFT MT-to-MX migration ends in November 2025, after which cross-border correspondent banking is ISO 20022-only.

What it does not solve

ISO 20022 is a data and messaging standard. It does not by itself define controls, fraud rules or AML obligations — those live in AML regulation, PSD2/PSD3, sanctions law, and the institution's own policies. It does, however, make those controls measurably more effective by giving them structured, machine-readable data to work on.