Swift forms task force for ISO 20022 harmonisation
In harmony
Swift has formed a global market practice task force of markets infrastructures and banks to assist its ISO 20022 Harmonisation Charter.
Sponsored by the Payments Market Practice Group (PMPG), the task force aims to address the evolving ISO 20022 standards requirements of high value payments systems (HVPS) providers.
Swift says it is a “key component” of its ISO 20022 harmonisation initiative that aims to address the “industry concern around fragmentation and the risk of multiple versions and flavours being adopted across various markets, leading to higher implementation costs”.
The new task force, called HVPS+, will build on the existing HVPS market practice documented in MyStandards that focuses on ensuring interoperability with FIN messages in the cross-border space.
Gina Russo, AVP, payment product management, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, says with the task force the “industry as a whole can be in a position to reduce costs, ensure efficient implementation, and realise the true benefits of using a common global standard”.
The following organisations are participating in the new HVPS+ task force: ABN AMRO, Australian Payments Clearing Association, Banca d’Italia, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of England, EBA Clearing, European Central Bank, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, FirstRand Bank Ltd, Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited, Payments Canada, Société Générale, Standard Bank, The Clearing House, and Wells Fargo.
The task force started work at the end of June 2016 and expects to publish a first set of additional market practice guidelines in MyStandards, Swift’s online platform for sharing standards information, in Q4 2016/Q1 2017.
In the line of fire
Elsewhere, Swift recently came under fire from former executives.
The execs say Swift suspected there were weak points in the way smaller banks used its messaging terminals – but did not address the issues.
