The phase 1 implementation of the ISO 20022 migration strategy that was scheduled for November 2020 is being postponed by the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. central bank said in a press release on Monday, Sept. 23.
The Payments Market Practice Group asked the Federal Reserve to reassess its approach to the project, which involves a three-phased migration to the ISO 20022 messaging standard for the Fedwire Funds Service. The industry group prefers same-day implementation.
SWIFT announced last year that it is planning to allow its users to send data-rich ISO 20022 messages across its global network starting in November 2021. However, a phased-in process could cause cross-border exchange issues with financial institutions. If payments are not fully enabled for ISO 20022 by the time SWIFT rolls the system out, messages might get cut off.
To reduce risk, worldwide financial institutions have requested that the Federal Reserve and other global payment platforms embrace the same ISO 20022 strategy and implementation schedule.