From awareness to action: How treasurers can prepare for ISO 20022

ISO 20022 at the ACT Cash Management Conference: Key takeaways for Corporate Treasurers

On March 19th, 2025, industry leaders gathered at the ACT (Association of Corporate Treasurers) Cash Management Conference in London to discuss the evolving impact of ISO 20022 on treasury operations. Moderated by Naresh Aggarwal, Associate Director at ACT, the panel featured Anish Kapoor, CEO of AccessPay; Elizabeth Leather, Policy Manager at the Bank of England; and Brice Goemans, Corporate Product Owner at SWIFT.

The discussion made one thing clear: awareness of ISO 20022 is growing rapidly. Compared to last year, when fewer than 25% of attendees acknowledged familiarity with the standard, this year saw almost universal recognition. More importantly, half the room expressed confidence that ISO 20022 would improve treasury operations — another sharp increase from the previous year.

However, while the benefits of ISO 20022 are clear, the panel emphasised that businesses must first navigate the challenges of adoption as the global payments system is undergoing a huge upheaval. This transition is just beginning, and every corporate, regardless of industry, will eventually need to engage with these changes.

Why ISO 20022 matters: The view from the Bank of England

Elizabeth Leather, responsible for the policy implementation of ISO 20022 at the Bank of England, outlined why this shift is so significant:

• Better data quality: ISO 20022 introduces a structured data standard, allowing richer and more accurate machine-readable data. Where previously payment instruction data might have been compressed or truncated into a smaller packet to fit bank requirements, ISO 20022 now expands it.
• A decided move away from unstructured formats: While hybrid formats will persist for now, unstructured addresses will ultimately be phased out.
• Improved financial crime prevention: Better data will enhance Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks, Sanctions Screening, and Straight-Through Processing (STP), leading to fewer payment disruptions.

Key upcoming changes include:

• From May 1st, 2025, certain Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) will become mandatory.
• Purpose of Payment (PoP) codes will be required for transactions between financial institutions (FIs) and in all property-related payment instructions.

PoP codes, in particular, will be critical for fraud prevention and as legal evidence in disputes.

How SWIFT is preparing for the shift

Brice Goemans, Corporate Product Owner at SWIFT, addressed how the transition is affecting corporate-to-bank connectivity. He highlighted key deadlines and recommendations:

• By November 2025, all bank-to-bank (or FI-to-FI) payment instructions must be in an ISO 20022 format — as he put it, this is the critical “cliff edge” moment.
• While legacy formats won’t be switched off immediately, higher adoption will accelerate the benefits of ISO 20022, and is therefore recommended.
• Corporates still have time to prepare, but those who start early will gain a competitive advantage in payment processing and reconciliation.

Challenges in implementing ISO 20022: Insights from AccessPay

Anish Kapoor, CEO of AccessPay, shared his perspective on the practical hurdles that corporates face during the transition. AccessPay helps businesses connect their banks and ERPs/back-office systems to automate payments and statement retrieval. AccessPay handle different bank formats and deal with ISO 20022 compliance daily. Kapoor identified three major challenges:

1. Lack of clear communication from banks

Even before ISO 20022, trying to connect to multiple banks across geographies and payment rails was complex. Now, corporates report inconsistent messaging from banks about what formats to use and when.

• Some banks require specific formats and data tags today but may change their requirements as their internal systems evolve.
• Banks were granted deadline extensions due to readiness issues, adding to the concerns.

As Naresh Aggarwal put it, navigating ISO 20022 is like “trying to get on a moving train.” Corporates should treat the transition as a multi-phase project rather than a one-time fix. There are too many moving pieces to say with certainty today what might be needed tomorrow.

2. The complexity of Purpose of Payment (PoP) codes

One of the most common questions from corporates is: What PoP codes should we use?

• Interbank PoP codes differ from those that banks ask corporates to use, creating immediate confusion.
• Right now, most corporates rely on the Bank of England’s default list from March 2023, but this will evolve as banks and ERPs integrate new ISO 20022 data points.

For now, Kapoor describes PoP codes as “a unified set of placeholders” — guidelines rather than fixed requirements.

3. Managing the surge in data requirements

ISO 20022 introduces new data fields, such as LEIs and PoP codes, which must be stored and mapped correctly across different systems.

• ERP and Treasury Management Systems (TMS) handle this in different ways — some are developing native capabilities, while others rely on third-party data transformation solutions.
• Corporates must engage with their tech providers and banks now to understand:
  
  • Can they store the necessary data?
  • Will system updates be required?
  • Will these enhancements be part of standard functionality, or a paid add-on?

Uncertain about the right questions to ask?  AccessPay’s 10-step action plan gives you the exact questions to ask your banks and technology providers to ensure your systems are ready for the new data requirements. Access the plan now.

The benefits of ISO 20022: What corporates can gain today

Despite the challenges, ISO 20022 brings major improvements in payment and reconciliation processes.

1. Better data insights & faster reconciliation

Elizabeth Leather pointed out that low match rates in auto-reconciliation are a persistent pain point for corporates. ISO 20022 aims to fix that by enabling Straight-Through Reconciliation (STR).

With richer data from CAMT messages, corporates can:

• Know their cash position faster
• Gain better supplier insights
• Track payments more accurately

Kapoor added that switching to CAMT messaging has already boosted reconciliation rates for many organisations. With unstructured remittance data no longer compressed or truncated, some businesses are seeing up to 80% reconciliation success rates.

2. More reliable Straight-Through Processing (STP)

ISO 20022-compliant messages — including CHAPS payments with PoP codes — are significantly reducing the number of stopped payments.

• Fewer payments are flagged for AML or Sanctions Screening issues, which can otherwise cause weeks-long delays.
• Enhanced data quality means corporates face fewer disruptions in payment processing.

These improvements reduce costs and operational risk for businesses, particularly those in financial services.

Our takeaway: Preparing for the ISO 20022 future starts now

ISO 20022 is not a question of if, but when and how. Eventually, it will apply to all payment types globally. The key decision for corporates is whether to:

1. Develop a structured strategy for managing and processing the new data, or
2. Rely on banks and tech vendors, potentially facing delays or inefficiencies.

Rather than waiting for ISO 20022 to happen to them, corporates should proactively plan their transition. Now is the ideal time to map out your ISO 20022 compliance journey.

For support in navigating these changes, AccessPay and the Association of Corporate Treasurers are available to help.

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Resources to link to:

• 10 step action plan: https://www.treasurers.org/hub/best-practice/iso-20022-resource-hub/10-step-action-plan
• ISO 20022 readiness assessment: https://pages.accesspay.com/iso20022/readiness-assessment