ISO 20022
ISO 20022 is a global standard for financial messaging developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It defines standardised XML formats for payment instructions, account statements and status messages in payment transactions.
In Switzerland, the harmonisation of payment transactions on ISO 20022 has enabled the introduction of the QR-bill and the replacement of the old payment slips. Banks deliver credit notifications in CAMT format (e.g. camt.054), which is based on ISO 20022. For comerciantes, this means: automatic payment reconciliation instead of manual account statement verification.
Globally, ISO 20022 will become the standard for international payments (SWIFT network, TARGET2 in the EU) by 2025. For Swiss companies trading internationally, compatibility with ISO 20022 is therefore increasingly relevant.
ISO 20022 examples
A bank provides the Comerciante with a camt.054 message (ISO 20022 format) containing all credits and QR references for automatic payment reconciliation.
An ERP system imports pain.001 files (ISO 20022) to automatically transmit payment orders to the bank.
The Swiss QR-bill is based on the ISO 20022 standard and contains all payment information in a standardised QR code.
ISO 20022 FAQ
What is ISO 20022?
ISO 20022 is an international standard for electronic data exchange in the financial services industry. It defines uniform XML formats for payment instructions, bank statements, and credit advices.
What has ISO 20022 to do with the QR-bill?
The Swiss QR-bill is based on the ISO 20022 standard. Incoming payments are advised via camt messages (ISO 20022), which enables automatic payment reconciliation.
What is a camt.054 message?
The camt.054 is a credit advice message in ISO 20022 format, delivered by banks to businesses. It contains all incoming payments with reference numbers and enables automatic reconciliation with open invoices.
Does ISO 20022 also affect small businesses?
Yes, indirectly. If you send QR-bills or want to automatically reconcile incoming payments, you work with ISO 20022 formats. Most modern accounting tools (Bexio, Abacus) support these formats natively.
