The global migration to ISO 20022 is not merely a format update; it is a fundamental restructuring of financial data. For decades, developers parsed SWIFT MT (Message Type) files—unstructured, flat-text blobs where critical metadata was often crion Risks: If your internal ledger schema has a 140 char limit for remittance info (based on MT limits), it will break when receiving ISO 20022 messages, which allow for structured and extended remittance data. Database schema migration is often a prerequisite for handling MX messages.
Interoperability and Translation Libraries
During the coexistence period, systems must handle both formats. This requires a Translation Layer.
MT-to-MX Translation: Often lossy. Mapping unstructured text to structured XML requires "enrichment" logic or manual intervention.
MX-to-MT Translation: Resulting in data truncation. If a bank sends a rich MX message but your system creates a legacy MT output for a downstream ERP, critical compliance data may be stripped, triggering sanctions screening false positives.
