SEPA format migration to ISO version 2019

Migration of payment standards to the 2019 ISO 20022 version by 2023

What is the background regarding the planned changes?

In September 2020, the European Payments Council (EPC) decided to convert the SEPA payment transaction formats to the 2019 version of ISO 20022 message standard by November 19, 2023. The mandatory conversion for banks includes new or changed functional rules. The 2019 ISO 20022 enables the introduction of new data components so that more extensive information can be transmitted in addition to the transaction compared to existing formats.

The planned changes are as follows:

• From November 2023, the conversion of the local specification for Real-time Transport Protocol submission and collection, as well as status messages based on the 2019 ISO 20022 specifications.
• From November 2023, the conversion of SCT and SDD, the Payments Status Report, as well as the SDD cancellation to 2019 ISO 20022.
• Furthermore, from November 2023, the aim is to switch the same-day urgent transfer to 2019 ISO 20022.
• For each European country, the relevant local data formats must be considered.

Outlook:

With the 2019 ISO 20022 adjustments, the focus is on the structured address data, the structured remittance information, and the standardization of attributes.

Potential for efficiency in implementation – the challenge is about realizing this potential

Economic advantages	Economic challenges
Increased efficiency through a standardized and uniform format Enhanced structured data leads to improve compliance  Improved services with increased customer satisfaction	Implementation costs for adapting the own IT systems  Relevance for all SEPA participants  Parallel activities due to simultaneous implementation of regulatory requirements

BearingPoint offers a targeted consulting service

BearingPoint‘s experiences from numerous projects and customer discussions show that implementing the new SEPA format migration to ISO Version 2019 will entail some challenges. By consistently identifying and using synergy potential for existing processes and formats, optimizing the effort for such an implementation project should be possible. A two-stage approach is therefore advisable: In the first stage, a quick check is carried out with an analysis of the current situation and the derivation of the announced target solution. The implementation project follows in the second stage.

1. Quick check	2. Implementation project
Scope Clarification of institute relevance, analysis of migration requirements, and querying of general data availability; existing payment transaction processes and data flows.	Scope Development and implementation of the target solution for migrating the new target formats.
Methods Current state analysis (interviews & cross-departmentalworkshops, especially cooperation between departmentsand IT). Technical framework concept. Planning implementation project.	Methods Technical specification of the rules of data mapping and migration. Test and Go-Live support. Coordination/validation of the processes. Definition of the process flow and coordination of the cooperation of different technical teams.
Objective   Determination of the data formats and fields to be converted. Target solution for the new data formats and, if necessary, conversion of existing processes. Time-related effort estimation and project plan.	Objective ISO version 2019 end-to-end realized, tested and Go-Live. Integration into existing processes/data flows, possible connection of new data. Use of synergies.