ISO 20022 and Swift Dates: What Changes When, 2025–2027
The ISO 20022 and Swift dates a treasury plans around: what ended in 2025, what was set for November 2026 and then deferred, and what moves to June 2027.
On this page
The one date that is settled is behind us: on 22 November 2025 the coexistence of MT and ISO 20022 for cross-border payments and reporting (CBPR+) ended. The next one a treasury was told to plan for — 14 November 2026, when unstructured addresses were to be removed — is no longer the date: on 27 August 2026 Swift deferred all the payments changes planned for that November and said it would announce the new timing by December. This page keeps the dates in one place, with what each one asks of a corporate and the source that says so, and it marks as open whatever Swift has not yet set.
The dates
| When | What | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 22 November 2025 | End of MT/ISO 20022 coexistence for cross-border payments and reporting (CBPR+) | Done |
| 14 November 2026 | Unstructured postal addresses removed from ISO 20022 payment messages; only structured or hybrid accepted | Deferred on 27 August 2026; new timing to be announced by December 2026 |
| November 2026 | End of coexistence for the interbank MT101 relay in favour of pain.001 | Was set for November 2026; Swift says the payments changes planned for November will be phased separately |
| 12 June 2027 | Deferred Standards Release 2026: all MT messages except category 1, ISO 20022 securities and funds messages, tracker messages, exceptions and investigations messages | Set (Swift, 21 September 2026) |
| End of February, May, August, November | New editions of ISO's external code sets — the reason codes a pain.002 carries, among others | Every quarter |
| No date | Corporates moving their own MT101, MT940 and MT942 traffic to ISO 20022 | Swift: no migration deadline for corporates; strongly encouraged |
What the address change asks of a corporate
The deadline moved; the requirement did not, and a bank can ask for it before Swift does. Swift's call to action to corporates says:
- Source the creditor's address yourself, store it in the ERP or treasury system, and give it to the bank when you initiate the payment.
- At a minimum, the town name and the country, as their own fields — a "hybrid" address keeps free-text lines beside them; a "fully structured" one puts everything in its own field.
- Whatever the channel: MT101, pain.001 or the bank's own format. On MT101 that means field 59 option F.
In a pain.001, that is Cdtr/PstlAdr with TwnNm and Ctry filled, not only AdrLine. The free Bank File Reader checks a pain.001 for exactly this before it is sent: a creditor whose address is only free-text lines is flagged, with the reason code a bank would use for it.
Why one date never fits
Swift's dates are for the Swift network. Domestic schemes and market infrastructures run their own calendars, and Swift's statement says several had similar deadlines and asked for the same extra time. Each bank also sets its own dates — for accepting MT101 from a corporate, for requiring structured addresses on its own channels — and writes to its customers about them. The MT101, MT103 and MT202 article goes through which space each message lives in.
So the practical order is: your banks' letters first, Swift's dates second, and the earliest date anyone has given you as the one to be ready for.
Keeping this page current
It is checked against Swift's published statements each month until the deferred dates are set. The last check is the date at the top; Swift said its next update on structured addresses would come by December 2026.
Primary sources
Dates and statuses as Swift published them up to 21 September 2026 (the update to its 27 August 2026 statement), and ISO's stated maintenance cycle for the external code sets. Anything Swift has said it will announce later is marked as open, not guessed.
- Swift — Swift accepts community request to extend structured address migration for ISO 20022 payment messages (27 August 2026, updated 21 September 2026) — accessed 2026-10-15
- Swift — ISO 20022 in bytes for payments: Call-to-action for November 2026 (1 May 2026) — accessed 2026-10-15
- ISO 20022 — External Code Sets, 2Q2026 edition (introduction sheet: maintenance cycle) — accessed 2026-10-15
Frequently asked questions
(3)
Is the November 2026 structured address deadline still on?
No, not as it was set. Swift had said that after 14 November 2026 unstructured postal addresses would be removed and only fully structured or hybrid addresses accepted. On 27 August 2026 it agreed to extend the timeline, deferred all payments changes of Standards Release 2026, and said it would announce the timing for structured addresses by December 2026 at the latest.
What address data does a corporate have to send for a cross-border payment?
Swift's guidance to corporates is to source the creditor's address, store it in the ERP or treasury system and give it to the bank at initiation — at a minimum the town name and the country, as their own fields, whatever the channel: MT101, pain.001 or a bank's own format. A corporate still on MT101 needs field 59 option F for it. The deadline moved; the requirement did not.
When does the deferred Swift Standards Release 2026 go live?
On 12 June 2027, per Swift's update of 21 September 2026. That release covers all MT messages except category 1, ISO 20022 securities and funds messages, tracker messages, and exceptions and investigations messages. The payments changes, including structured addresses, are being phased separately.