October 2024: On the Wire - ISO® 20022 Newsletter
Attention FedLine Advantage® Users
Thank you for all you are doing to prepare your institution for the Fedwire® Funds Service’s single-day migration to the ISO® 20022 message format. With March 10, 2025 being less than five months away, please review the following important steps to help your institution prepare:
- Learn new ISO 200222 screens: The outgoing message forms have changed and will require different fields, so we highly recommend that your wire operations team familiarize themselves with the new ISO 20022 screens and features.
- Test, test, test: You should complete your testing in the DIT2 environment by December 31. We also recommend that you participate in Peer Testing to test production-like scenarios with each other.
- Attestation needed by December 31: Beginning November 4, you’ll notice a new “Complete Attestation” button when you log into the DIT2 environment. We need you to attest that you have trained your staff to send and receive wires using the new ISO 20022 screens beginning March 10, 2025. Individuals with a Funds Supervisor or Funds Manager role will be able to complete the attestation on behalf of your institution.
- Prepare your entire wire ecosystem: Inventory the systems that support your entire wire operations (i.e., upstream and downstream systems), reach out to your internal software developers or vendors, and take action to ensure readiness for the ISO 20022 migration.
- FRFS customer support post-migration: Please be aware that we are preparing for a large volume of customer inquiries after the migration date. If you have issues after the cutover to the ISO 20022 message format, support may be prioritized for customers that completed testing in the DIT2 environment. It is imperative that you test and train your wire operations team now.
We are here to help you! Please contact us, your relationship manager or our Wholesale Testing Services with your questions.
Training opportunities
There is still room for new registrants in our November ISO 20022 training sessions. These are designed specifically for customers who are Funds Managers, Funds Supervisors and Funds Transfer Specialists to learn more about the new ISO 20022 screens and features and ask questions to our ISO 20022 experts. Customers with those roles have been sent registration information via email. If you hold one of these roles and did NOT receive an email with registration information, contact your organization’s End User Authorization Contact (EUAC). Register today for one of our remaining sessions!
- November 7: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (registration closes 10/30)
- November 12: Federal Reserve Bank of New York (registration closes 11/1)
- November 14: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – Miami Branch (registration closes 11/4)
If you are unable to join us in person, you can review the training materials (Quick Reference Guides) posted on the “Help” link within the FedPayments® Manager – Funds application.
Recreate your templates in the ISO 20022 format
If you use the FedPayments Manager – Funds templates feature today, your existing FAIM-formatted templates will be deleted during the migration weekend. You must act now to inventory what you need, then recreate, save and test the new ISO 20022-formatted templates in the DIT2 environment by 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday, March 7, 2025. Any saved ISO 20022 templates will be copied over to the production environment for your use beginning on the March 10, 2025, business day. To help you get started, we have developed a templates mapping guide that is available on the private page in MyStandards platform provided by SWIFT®. Review the instructions to gain access to the private page.
Important reminder for import/upload users
As of March 10, 2025, we will only support ISO 20022-formatted messages in import/upload files. The current FAIM format that you use today will no longer be accepted, and your outgoing wires will be rejected if they use the FAIM format. Engage with your vendors or work with your internal developers to make the necessary updates to support the ISO 20022 format. You are expected to test the import/upload capability in the DIT2 environment. For questions about testing this feature, please contact our Wholesale Testing Services.
Note: If you also use the export/download feature, you should test this capability to ensure that the new ISO 20022-formatted messages can be processed by your downstream systems.
A different look in FedPayments Manager – Funds
As of mid-November, an orange banner at the top of the screen will remind users to prepare and test for the upcoming ISO 20022 implementation. Pop-up messages will also remind you to take action on your templates.
FedLine Advantage as a backup
This is another reminder for customers that access the Fedwire Funds Service using a service provider’s FedLine Direct® connection to consider establishing their own FedLine Advantage connection and obtaining access to the FedPayments Manager – Funds application. Securing this connection ahead of the ISO 20022 implementation will allow you to leverage the FedPayments Manager – Funds application as your contingency option to manually create critical wires. Find out more by contacting your relationship manager.
Production environment testing opportunities
If you are interested in ISO 20022 testing in our production environment, you are welcome to do so on Saturday, January 25, 2025. Review the testing that can be performed as outlined in the Production Test Script (available on the public page in MyStandards). To secure your spot, please submit the Production Application Test Request Form by December 15.
Last drop-in session of the year
We will host the last drop-in session of the year on Wednesday, December 4 at 2:00 p.m. ET (Register). Additional drop-in sessions will be announced early next year!
Updated format documents on MyStandards
Updated versions of the following documents have been posted to MyStandards:
- Public page: Fedwire Funds Service ISO 20022 Quick Reference Guide (October 2024)
- New chapter on use of ISO 20022 messages related to payments received in the legacy FAIM format
- Private page: Fedwire Funds Service ISO 20022 FedLine Advantage Templates Mapping Guide (October 2024) NEW!
Please refer to the Document Change History in each of the documents for an overview of changes.
More information
Be sure to bookmark and periodically visit the Fedwire Funds Service ISO 20022 Implementation Center (e.g., preparation checklists, high-level project milestone timelines, on-demand webinars, live event registration, testing requirements, frequently asked questions) so you have the latest information about this implementation. You can also contact us if you have any specific questions related to the information in this newsletter.