The upcoming weekend of March 18-19 is all about ISO 20022 migration in international payment transactions. Along with the TARGET2/T2S consolidation as a "Big Bang," the EURO1 system, SWIFT CBPR+ (beginning a coexistence phase of MT and MX formats), and the High Value Payments Systems of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are also migrating.

According to SWIFT, "Our 72 hours where we make history begin next Friday." Some market participants were expecting an official announcement from the payment network confirming the start of the coexistence phase for CBPR+ on March 20, after the green light for TARGET2. However, SWIFT stated that they made it clear in the announcement of the ISO 20022 migration delay in October 2022 that there would be no further delays.

In the corresponding statement by SWIFT on October 27, 2022, it is emphasized that "at the same time, the feedback from our community indicates that there is strong momentum across the industry to implement ISO 20022 Rich Data and derive value from it, so the revised start date of March 20, 2023, is final."

What exactly happens during the T2/T2S consolidation as a "Big Bang"? What are the risks? DPS Partner Carsten Lange explains this in the Finanz-Szene podcast.

EURO1 is a net payment system designed for the settlement of cross-border commercial euro payments. Like TARGET2, the ISO 20022 migration has been postponed and will now take place simultaneously next weekend.

After the postponement of SWIFT CBPR+, the switch to the ISO format for Canada's High Value Payments System (HVPS) Lynx was also postponed to March 18-19, 2023.

The introduction in Australia and New Zealand is also synchronized with SWIFT's ISO 20022 schedule. A nearly two-year coexistence period between the current MT messages of HVCS and the new MX messages will begin on March 20.