What Corporate and Commercial Clients Should Know and How to Prepare
Scotiabank continues to prepare for future ISO 20022 industry changes and remains committed to supporting clients as implementation timelines evolve. Swift has announced that Standards Release 2026 will not proceed as originally planned and that implementation timelines for certain payments-related changes will be revised.
For clients submitting payments through Scotiabank-operated payment channels, no immediate action is required as a result of the postponement of the planned SWIFT changes. Organizations should, however, continue preparing by reviewing beneficiary and payment-related address information and confirming that required address elements can be captured and maintained for future industry requirements.
Clients using SWIFT MT101 payment initiation messages through supported arrangements may continue to do so. There is currently no industry-wide requirement for corporate and commercial clients to migrate from MT101 to pain.001, and Swift has confirmed that the planned November 2026 coexistence changes have been postponed to a future Standards Release.
The industry continues to move toward more structured and consistent address information in payment messages. While the planned removal of fully unstructured postal addresses has been postponed, organizations are encouraged to continue readiness activities as structured and hybrid addresses remain the long-term vision.
“At Scotiabank, we have invested to help clients meet these changes without needing significant technical upgrades. Organizations should continue reviewing how address information is captured across their systems to support future industry requirements. While implementation timelines have been extended, the industry’s direction remains focused on improving address-data quality and increasing the use of structured information in payments.”
Matt Loos, Managing Director, Global Clearing & Network Management
Frequently Asked Questions
Address Format Quick Change Reference
The key difference is whether Town Name/City and Country Code are captured in dedicated fields rather than appearing only within free text.
What Organizations Should Do Now
- Review beneficiary and payment-related address records.
- Confirm Town Name/City and Country Code can be captured and maintained separately where required.
- Review payment templates, files, mappings, and channels for address-data readiness.
- Engage ERP, treasury management system, and payment-platform providers if updates may be required.
- Stay informed as Scotiabank, Swift, and relevant market infrastructures communicate revised implementation timelines.
Need Assistance?
Clients should contact their Treasury Management Office representative or Relationship Manager to discuss how these changes may apply to their organization and payment processes.
