In a recent letter to MDs and CEOs of all member banks, the IBA flagged concerns over the slow pace of migration in India.
As per data shared by SWIFT, as of April 30, 2025, India’s ISO 20022 migration rate stood at just 11 per cent, compared to a global average of 38 per cent. (Source: freepik)
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has urged all member banks to accelerate their transition to the ISO 20022 messaging standard for cross-border payments, warning that any delay beyond August could lead to transaction rejections, operational disruptions, and customer impact after November this year.
In a recent letter to MDs and CEOs of all member banks, the IBA flagged concerns over the slow pace of migration in India. As per data shared by SWIFT, as of April 30, 2025, India’s ISO 20022 migration rate stood at just 11 per cent, compared to a global average of 38 per cent. Only three Indian banks have achieved a migration rate above 85 per cent, the letter read.
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ISO 20022 is a globally accepted standard for financial messaging that enables richer, structured data to improve payment processing, reconciliation, and interoperability between systems. SWIFT began its phased migration to ISO 20022 in 2022, allowing a coexistence period during which both the legacy MT (message type) format and ISO 20022 can be used. This coexistence period will end on November 22, 2025.
After this cut-off date, SWIFT will no longer accept MT-format payment instructions for cross-border transactions within its network. Messages sent in the old format will fail validation, potentially causing service disruptions, loss of data, and additional processing costs.
The IBA cautioned that a large number of Indian banks are still planning to go live closer to the global deadline. This, it said, may pose significant operational and technical risks for the country, including increased exposure to message rejections and reduced preparedness for handling exceptions.
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To avoid last-minute challenges, the IBA advised all banks to begin migrating by August 2025, allowing adequate buffer time to monitor ISO 20022 transaction volumes and ensure system stability.
Banks have also been asked to direct their internal departments to take immediate steps to meet the compliance timeline and ensure seamless transition.
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