Harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for enhancing cross-border payments – final report

This final report - a key deliverable under the G20 cross-border payments programme - focuses on harmonised data requirements for the use of ISO 20022 messages in cross-border payments. The 12 data requirements in this report are an important step towards further harmonising the use of ISO 20022 and helping to achieve the G20 cross-border payment target of improving cross-border payments for all.

The G20 cross-border payments programme identified the fragmentation of payment messaging standards as one of the factors contributing to the frictions in cross-border payments. The growing global adoption by payment systems and financial institutions of a common international financial messaging standard – ISO 20022 – offers the prospect of greater interoperability, with benefits for enhanced cross-border payments.

However, the current inconsistency in the implementation and use of this international standard risks undercutting some of its benefits for cross-border payments. To address this, the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the private sector global Payments Market Practice Group (PMPG) worked through a joint task force to agree on harmonised data requirements for ISO 20022 messages for cross-border payments. These data requirements establish a consistent minimum set of data to be used in a cross-border payment transaction end to end. They reflect intensive technical discussions by payment practitioners over the past two years and extensive consultation with industry, including feedback from more than 50 stakeholders who responded to the CPMI's three-month public consultation in early 2023. As such, the CPMI believes these data requirements reflect a broad market consensus.

Realisation of the benefits of adopting these requirements will depend crucially on their widespread uptake. As such, market participants are encouraged to begin preparations to align with the harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements in earnest and by end-2027 at the latest. With the publication of this report, the CPMI will continue its engagement with payment system operators and financial institutions to foster the implementation of the harmonised data requirements by end-2027 and to consider how consistent implementation can be assured in future as the payments landscape evolves.