Technical resources for the migration to ISO 20022

Is your organisation ready for ISO 20022?

The migration to using the ISO 20022 messaging standard for UK payments is underway. We expect the first phase to happen in 2022. Start to get your organisation ready now. 

You can also sign up for our RTGS Renewal Programme’s newsletter by emailing us at: RTGSEngagement@bankofengland.co.uk.

CHAPS ISO 20022 Messages

The CHAPS ISO 20022 like-for-like and enhanced message schemas (version 1.0.0), Technical Guidance and Change Log are now available on the SWIFT MyStandards portal. MyStandards is a global repository for standards operated by SWIFT. Users must first register for a free account with SWIFT and then request to join the Bank of England’s ISO 20022 community. MyStandards can be found on the SWIFT website.

The Bank will also publish the schemas on Pay.UK’s Standards Source in due course.

Alongside these, the Bank has published the: CHAPS & RTGS ISO 20022 migration: revised approach and final schemas. This provides a new baseline for all ISO 20022 related documentation and should help guide CHAPS Direct Participants, Reserves and Settlements Account Holders, and related stakeholders with their migration to ISO 20022.

The document provides further detail regarding the Bank’s ISO 20022 migration approach and timelines, together with supporting information about the ISO 20022 messages, including the Bank’s initial Change Management Framework for the schemas.

MyStandards Readiness Portal

We have launched the SWIFT MyStandards Readiness Portal to help you to start testing your CHAPS payment messages against the published schemas. 

We encourage all CHAPS direct participants to use the portal to prepare for the CHAPS ISO 20022 migration. 

Other users, including indirect participants in CHAPS, software vendors supplying payment systems, and others in the payments industry are also welcome to use it. 

We will monitor usage to keep informed of how ready the industry is for migration.

What can I use the portal for?

The portal will validate CHAPS ISO 20022 messages to ensure they comply with the schemas and the format meets mandatory requirements for a payment message to settle in RTGS. 

It will also enable you to validate examples of the cash management and administration messages that CHAPS direct participants will receive from RTGS. This will enable them to prepare their systems to process them. 

It links with the SWIFT MyStandards documents, not the Standards Source documentation.

How do I gain access to it?

To get access, you:

1. Register for a swift.com account for MyStandards.
2. Request access to the Bank of England ISO 20022 (external users) community.  We will process your request within 48 hours.
3. Email rtgsreadiness@bankofengland.co.uk to request a copy of the ‘Readiness Portal – Community Access Agreement’. Include a brief explanation of why you want to use the portal.. Software vendors should also outline which software packages they provide, to which actors in the payments industry, to avoid any delay in being granted access. The agreement should be signed on behalf of your organisation and returned to the same address.
4. Use the form below to list people who are authorised to access the portal on behalf of your organisation. Return it to: rtgsreadiness@bankofengland.co.uk.

• List of users who are authorised to access the Readiness Portal (PDF) 

How do I use the portal?

We are developing a set of use cases to support testing and we will shared these with direct participants via the RTGS Renewal Testing Working Group. 

You can use portal in any way that supports your development of your CHAPS ISO 20022 messages.

How long will the portal be available?

The portal will be available throughout the RTGS Renewal Programme. 

We will update it later in 2020 with the schemas for the enhanced CHAPS ISO 20022 messages.

How to contact us

Please contact rtgsengagement@bankofengland.co.uk with any questions.