ISO 20022
The international standard for financial messages, with structured data fields that carry more detail than older payment formats.
What ISO 20022 is
ISO 20022 is an open standard from the International Organization for Standardization for messages between financial institutions. It defines structured fields for parties, addresses, purpose and remittance details. Major systems now use it, including Fedwire, the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), FedNow, RTP and Swift's cross-border payments.
How it works
Instead of short, free-text fields, each message tags data such as the payer, payee, purpose and invoice numbers. That makes payments easier to screen, route and reconcile automatically, including sanctions checks against OFAC lists. Banks map their systems to the new formats.
- 01 · CREATE The sending bank builds a structured message with full party and purpose data.
- 02 · ROUTE The network validates the message and passes it to the receiving bank.
- 03 · RECONCILE The receiver uses the data to post, screen and match the payment.
| Use | Legacy Swift message | ISO 20022 message |
|---|---|---|
| Customer credit transfer | MT103 | pacs.008 |
| Bank-to-bank transfer | MT202 | pacs.009 |
| Account statement | MT940 | camt.053 |
Swift ended the coexistence of the two formats for cross-border payment instructions in November 2025.
When businesses use it
- Sending invoice and remittance details with each payment
- Automating reconciliation in treasury and ERP systems
- International payments routed with SWIFT codes and full party data
- Sanctions and fraud screening using structured names and addresses
Cross River sends and receives domestic wires over Fedwire, which runs on ISO 20022, and USD wires to international beneficiaries through correspondent banks. Payments are automated through API, with OFAC screening before Federal Reserve processing. See wires at Cross River.