Ready Or Not, Here It Comes: There's No Hiding from ISO 20022
Abstract
ISO 20022 is rapidly becoming the financial messaging standard, with projects in many countries and in many payment rails. One of the most significant is the migration of the Swift MT standard to MX. It’s a challenging project to say the least, with deadlines looming. So how has the industry approached the migration, how ready will they be, and what do they perceive the benefits to be? To address these questions, and many more, Celent conducted a significant program of primary research. The Celent ISO 20022 Readiness Survey ran from August to September 2022 and captured the perspectives and insights from not just senior executives at 211 banks across the globe but also their clients. In addition to the bank survey, we also polled 211 corporates in the same countries.
Respondents were asked a range of questions, including:
- How much had they spent in preparing for the migration?
- How had they approached the migration and why?
- What were the challenges they had faced, and what might have helped?
The answers highlight not only that the industry has spent a huge amount of money already, but that a significant proportion won't be ready by the final deadline. Even then, given the approaches that some banks have taken, even those who believe they will be ready, won't be as ready as they need to be.