JPMorgan, Swift and iFast Bank on: Current State of ISO 20022 Adoption, Migration Challenges, and Strategic Opportunities

The ISO 20022 migration is, or should be, on the minds of everyone working within the payments and financial services industries, with compliance becoming mandatory by November 2025. Despite the looming deadline, the adoption rate remains concerningly low, with only 24.5% of messages currently deemed ISO 20022 compliant. Within this blog, we seek to explore the current state of ISO 20022 adoption, the common migration challenges facing organisations, and the strategic opportunities it presents.

Current State of Adoption

Chloe Jenkins, a PMPG member and CBPR+ UK representative, highlighted the current industry rate of compliance during our recent webinar. She reports that 24.5% of messages are now ISO 20022 compliant. She pointed out that while the top 175 banks have reported they are on track, a proportion that covers 86% of traffic, the remaining 14%—primarily smaller banks—are lagging behind. This delay is problematic because those who do not “ensure they are able, at a minimum, to send and receive payment instruction messages by the November 2025 compliance deadline” will face negative consequences.

Migration Challenges

Data quality issues are a major challenge, as translating data from the old MT format to the new MX ISO 20022 format often leads to inconsistencies, particularly with structured data fields. According to a Swift report, many institutions face difficulties ensuring data consistency during translation, which impacts the integrity and reliability of transactions.

Additionally, smaller banks may lack the resources and expertise needed to implement ISO 20022 effectively. A survey by Accenture found that 42% of smaller financial institutions cited limited resources as a major barrier to adoption. Thorough and robust testing phases are also critical to ensure a smooth transition, yet many institutions are underprepared.

Importance of Early Adoption and Testing

Justin Brearley-Smith, Global ISO 20022 Product Lead at JPMorgan Chase, emphasised that “Thorough, robust testing is key to a successful implementation”. He mentions that “we did a lot of testing, and I'd advise that you go through many phases of your testing…buddy up with other banks, partner with clients, and make sure you've got robust testing”. He goes on to say that thorough testing “will help you iron out any problems that you may find in your adoption. Also, adopt sooner rather than later. Don't leave it all to the end. Adopt sooner. Learn sooner. Find out where your issues are and stagger your deliveries so it's not one big bang on November 25th and you're not being caught out by the end of coexistence.”

Justin’s other key recommendations include utilising available tools such as Swift's readiness portal, buddy banks and resources available on the CBPR+ website. He also advised on the benefits of a staggered implementation to avoid a last-minute rush to the finish line and to learn and resolve issues incrementally as you go.

Enforced Compliance or a Strategic Opportunity for Banks?

Russell Saunders from iFast Bank pointed out that ISO 20022 is not just a one-off compliance project, but a strategic opportunity, with benefits including improved Straight-Through Processing (STP), enhanced efficiency, and reduced errors.

However, as Justin from JPMorgan mentioned, “we'll only really see the benefits of ISO once adoption has reached critical mass for the whole community, and we see MX end-to-end, and not working off of translated MX messages. When we get that MX end-to-end, we'll start to reap the benefits as a community; things like improved STP, improved control functions, and improved resiliency as well.”

Free ISO 20022 Readiness Assessment

If your institution is struggling with the scale of this transformational change, our free
ISO 20022 Readiness Assessment can provide invaluable guidance.

Our Quality Engineering experts will review your tools, processes, and testing capabilities, identifying areas for improvement and potential risks. Book your free assessment today by reaching out to us here or emailing us at ask@roq.co.uk.