Future-proofing Corporate Treasury and Enhancing Value with ISO 20022 

EACT Breakout Session

Many market infrastructures, cross-border payments, high-value and instant payments are moving to ISO 20022. The new standard brings benefits to both banks and corporates. These include, for banks, the streamlining of payment processing, greater opportunities for automation, and reduction of the risk of false positives in screening. For corporates, comprehensive and better structured data aids reconciliation, payment transparency, and automation, especially in payment factories. The aim now is to start thinking more about the value-added services the new standard can facilitate.

From a banking perspective, ISO 20022 is already used in the interbank space, and from November 2025, the interbank space will use only ISO messages. However, to really leverage the new standard, it needs to be deployed along the full messaging chain.

Currently, within the limits of the MT format, multiple messaging versions are in use, with very little or no data validation. The need to progress had seen banks working with Swift to define standards to enable the exchange of all required information. These discussions gave rise to an option to enhance the current messaging version. But the opportunity to implement a new standard, rather than patching previous versions, was seen as a more viable and longer-term solution.

The payments story of Airbus, which has a worldwide presence with more than 300 subsidiaries, most of which are part of the company’s cash pool structure, is not uncommon. With 15 cash management banks, around 980 accounts, and a predominance of payments in EUR, USD and GBP, most of its payments are high value. These are typically intercompany payments, FX, investment-related payments, and specials such as dividend payments. It is critical that there are no processing delays.

Mindful of this need, Airbus was one of the first corporates to adopt Swift’s G4C payment tracker. GPI tracking is available for high-value, cross-border invoices. It also reveals where fees are taken in the payment cycle, and is useful for communication with the counterparty.

Initially the firm’s attempts at tracking payments were fragmented, with data sources not always communicating, and separate agreements needed with each bank. Airbus had agreed to take MT199s (a confirmation of payment) from its banks to try to track its transactions, but these took a free, non-standardised data format. With the need for full transparency on its payment executions increasingly apparent, the incorporation of ISO into GPI, with its standardised XML model, meant that Airbus could now easily integrate tracking across all of its systems and banks. This also removed the need for individual agreements with each bank.

Swift is currently working with corporates (including Airbus), and banks (such as BNP Paribas) to develop its products. As part of its objective, it aims to introduce the XML standard in a new channel, FINplus, to ensure all information is transmittable across the full payment chain. FINplus will be a multipurpose configuration for the exchange of ISO 20022 messages, including payments and cash management. The collaborative effort is also set on the development of a new service for corporates, SCOREplus, based on Swift’s existing Standardised Corporate Environment (SCORE).

In terms of uptake, while interbank communication has a hard stop for the current corporate-to-bank data exchange system, corporates do not have a strict end date. However, the aim is to ensure that as many corporates as possible are ready to benefit from new services such as payment tracking.

Joining the corporate/Swift/bank working group is practically beneficial in that co-developing a single standard reduces the individual development effort required. From BNP Paribas’ perspective, offering tracking services is diminished by the current lack of a harmonised framework in the interbank environment. The call to develop a single format for all is therefore abundantly clear, and the existence of this inclusive co-creation environment is helping to define the future of payments for all stakeholders.

From an Airbus point of view, joining this initiative gives it early access to new Swift developments. However, implementing its new products has its challenges. For a corporate to activate FINplus, for example, a new channel needs to be activated, requiring detailed bank discussions.

That said, the session’s main advice to corporates was to talk to Swift, their banks and peers, and to step up their research on these new initiatives. For those keen to take it further, Swift has opened a list for its working groups and is actively seeking new participants.