The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is transitioning Jamaica from its SWIFT banking message type (MT) standard to the ISO 20022 – ‘Universal Financial Industry Message Scheme’ format system.

As such, the BOJ has given financial institutions four years to adapt as it coordinates Jamaica’s migration from SWIFT MT to the ISO. This is being done to enhance end-to-end efficiency for payments.

Adoption of the ISO 20022 standard should improve payment processing efficiency and promote interoperability among financial institutions, financial market infrastructures and end-users. ISO 20022 is a multi-part international standard that enables a common global “language” for the development of messages in the payments, cards & related financial services, securities, foreign exchange trading, derivatives & trade services sectors.

Clearance systems will be updated to facilitate both the ISO 20022 standard and the current SWIFT MT standards by the second quarter of 2023. This is to allow participants to transition at their own pace.

Period of notification

Other entities will be required to notify the bank of their intention to adopt the standard and timeline for implementation. All entities transitioning to the new standard are being asked to advise the bank by sending an email to [email protected] by April 29, 2022.

The BOJ will facilitate coexistence of the ISO 20022 standard with the current SWIFT MT standards until November 2025. The main ingredients of the standard are a development methodology, a registration process and a central repository.  

The ISO 20022 standard’s methodology describes business processes and a common business language, which can be rendered in different syntaxes enabling implementation for messaging and application programming interfaces. The standard’s registration process ensures that business models are in compliance with the standard for the exchange of information for financial services. 

It is also supported by a central repository, which includes a data dictionary and a catalogue of messages and is accessible to all. The ISO 20022 dictionary helps the financial community align and do business by providing concise definitions for common business concepts.