ISO 20022 is an emerging global and open standard for payments messaging.

It creates a common language and model for payments data across the globe. One that provides higher quality data than other standards which means higher quality payments for all. One that can adapt to new needs and new approaches. One that’s not controlled by a single interest. One that can be used by anyone in the industry and implemented on any network.

ISO 20022 is a multi-part International Standard prepared by ISO Technical Committee TC68 Financial Service.

Banks and financial institutions globally are set to transition their payment systems from using SWIFT messages to the new, highly structured and data-rich ISO 20022 standard. By 2025 it will be the universal standard for high, or large-value payments systems of all reserve currencies, and will support 80% of transaction volumes – and 87% of transaction value globally. In Europe, SWIFT and the European Central Bank have announced ISO 20022 go-live dates of November 2022 for the standard.

ISO 20022, first introduced in 2004, is an international standard for relaying electronic messages between financial institutions. It was created to give the financial industry a common platform for sending payments messages and exchanging payments data, using a central dictionary, a standard modelling methodology, and a series of Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1 ) protocols.

In simple terms. ISO 2022 will replace the current method of making payments.

Here is an excellent resource to read ”ISO 2022 for Dummies” as this E-book explains ISO 20022 in layman language.