Swift's ISO 20022 timeline for cross-border payments has moved. On 27 August 2026, Swift announced it would defer the payments changes in Standards Release 2026. That includes the move away from unstructured postal addresses, which was due on 14 November 2026. Swift has said a revised timeline will follow by December 2026.
If your team was getting ready for November, this gives you more time, but the change hasn't been cancelled. Structured and hybrid postal addresses are still coming, along with the rest of the payments changes, only the date has moved.
Some customers are being asked to pay extra for this work, with their vendors charging significant fees to bring payment message formats into line with ISO 20022. When a timeline shifts, that work can get re-scoped, and sometimes billed again.
Our position is simple
At Sysynkt, format and standards updates are part of the service we offer. When requirements change, we update your formats with no separate change fee and no extra invoice. This isn't a limited-time offer, it's just how we work.
What this means for you
- If you're a Sysynkt customer: you don't need to do anything right now. We're following Swift's revised timeline and will update your formats automatically to be compliant.
- If you're being billed for format updates elsewhere: it's worth asking what the fee actually covers and considering whether it needs to be a fee at all.
Got questions about your own format updates? Get in touch below ↓