Bank of England welcomes release of BIS CPMI harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments

The Bank of England (BoE) has published a press statement in which it welcomes the release of the harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payment and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) (please see eventid=23834 in this context for more information). This global standard for payment messaging is being adopted by payment systems worldwide, including the BoE’s own Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS), which transitioned to the standard in June 2023. The Bank believes that adopting these standardized data requirements will reduce inefficiencies in cross-border payments caused by message discrepancies and inconsistent data usage. The consistent implementation of these requirements is essential, however, to enhance cross-border payment messages, potentially leading to smoother processing and helping the G20 achieve its cost, speed, and transparency goals for cross-border payments.
To support these benefits, the Bank of England plans to align its CHAPS ISO 20022 message guidelines with the CPMI ISO 20022 data requirements by the end of 2025, earlier than the global adoption deadline of end-2027 as outlined in the CPMI report. The Bank encourages other market infrastructures and payment service providers engaged in cross-border transactions to similarly adjust their ISO 20022 message usage guidelines with the CPMI ISO 20022 data requirements. This alignment is essential to fully leverage the advantages of standardization for end users globally.