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Is it possible to map MT to/from MX (ISO 20022)?

With the Cross Border Payments & Reporting (CBPR+) Working Group, SWIFT has created and published translation rules on MyStandards for selected messages from the SWIFT MT Category 1, 2 and 9 set of messages. This Translation Portal, will enable you to get full details of field-by-field translation logic, to test your translation utilities against CBPR+ approved translation rules. This can be done both ways - from MX to MT and MT to MX.

For market infrastructures migrating to ISO 20022, additional SWIFT products and services can be provided related to mapping definitions, translation rules and transformations.

Is there an ISO 20022 translator and how can it be used?

SWIFT offers, either as a standalone product or embedded in a SWIFT messaging interface (IPLA, AMH, SIL), a Translator enabling validation, translation and enrichment from any standard or format into any other. The SWIFT Translator manages and maintains SWIFT MT and ISO 20022 libraries, together with predefined translation libraries such as CBPR+, Target2, etc. SWIFT is currently investigating how to provide additional translation libraries such as EURO1, MEPS, HKICL, CHAPS, etc.



A local validation solution can also be provided by the SWIFT Translator.

Is MT to MX conversion possible?

MT to MX conversion is possible for most MT messages, except when there's no business justification/demand by the market to support coexistence as an intermediary step leading to ISO 20022 adoption. 

MT and MX equivalence tables are available on the SWIFT Knowledge Centre.

What is the ISO 20022 XML schema and how can it be used for ISO 20022 mapping?

An XML schema sets out the permitted structure for an XML document (or message). It defines, among other things, which elements are allowed in a document, the order in which they should appear, which are mandatory and which are optional. XML schemas can be used by a computer to check whether a message conforms to its definition or not. The ISO 20022 methodology describes how to generate an XML schema from a logical message definition, for messages that will use the XML syntax. XML schemas are provided to formally define the structure of all ISO 20022 XML messages.

ISO 20022 messages are much bigger than MTs – what are the resource implications of this, and how do I manage that?

ISO 20022 messages are indeed "bigger" than MTs. Before compression, if the "average" MT is 500 bytes, the equivalent MX is estimated at 3500 bytes in length. The interfaces generally are prepared for managing disk space/storage capacity on a strict like-for-like basis, but some institutions plan to make extensive use of translation (for example, from MT to ISO 20022 and vice versa). In this scenario, storage requirements will easily double. There are tools and documentation available to help with capacity planning on SWIFT interface devices on the Knowledge Centre; we recommend that you start there, and contact Support if you cannot find what you need.

What are the constraints of MT to MX mapping?

The main constraint when translating MT to MX is the data enrichment. MX being richer than MT, there may be a need to add additional elements.

The main constraint when translating MX to MT is data truncation. In other words, data being lost in the translation process as it is stored in a location too short to hold its entire length.

What is the ISO 20022 MT 102 & MT 103 mapping equivalent?

The ISO 20022 MT 102 and MT 103 mapping equivalent is the pacs.008 ( FI To FI Customer Credit Transfer).

Read on to find out more about ISO 20022 Definitions