Wire Transfer Migration to ISO 20022: What You Need to Know
Q. WHAT IS ISO 20022?
The Federal Reserve is transitioning from its current proprietary wire format (FAIM) to the global ISO 20022 standard, which is already used by many financial institutions. The switch will affect wire transfers processed through the Federal Reserve.
Q. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Starting July 14, 2025, all wire transfers sent through the Federal Reserve MUST comply with the new ISO 20022 format. This change will introduce significant modifications to wire formats and field labels.
Note: ACH transfers are not impacted.
Q. WHEN IS THIS HAPPENING?
The Federal Reserve cutover to ISO 20022 from FAIM was for Monday, March 10, 2025. All wires sent on or after this date must be in the new ISO format. However, after careful consideration, the Federal Reserve has decided to reschedule the Fedwire Funds Service ISO 20022 implementation to July 14, 2025.
Here are some key terminology changes that will take place:
| Current (FAIM) Format | ISO 20022 Format (Effective July 14,2025) |
|---|---|
| Credit Account Name | Creditor |
| Originator | Debtor |
| Originating Bank / Sending Bank | Debtor Agent / Instructing Agent |
| Beneficiary Bank | Creditor Agent |
| Domestic Intermediary/Receiving Bank | Instructed Agent |
| International Intermediary Bank | Intermediary Agent |
| Routing Number | Agent ID |
| Reference Beneficiary | End to End ID |
| Address Line 1 | Building Number and Street Name |
| Address Line 2/3 |
Department, Sub Department, Building Name, Floor, Room, Town Location Name, District Name, Post Box |
| City | Town Name |
| State | Country Subdivision |
| Zip Code | Post Code |
| Country | Country |
| Account Number | Account Number |
| Amount | Amount |
| Additional Information | Remittance Information |
| Purpose | Purpose |
Q. WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT ON DAY 1 (JULY 14, 2025)?
Those address fields don't seem to line up. -> Good catch!
- There isn’t a 1 to 1 relationship between current fields and ISO fields. The biggest difference are the address fields, and for those changes you will need to move the information from Address Line 1 (current FAIM format) to Street Name (ISO 20022 format). There is a 70-character limit for the Street Name field. Any Address Line 1 entries may be truncated, as necessary.
- For Domestic wires, not all of the new and segmented address fields are required, so if the data is slightly off, the wire should still be able to be sent if the following required fields have not changed:
| Agent ID (Bank ID) | Account Number |
| Agent Name (Bank Name) | City/Town (City) |
| Agent city (Bank City) | Agent Country |
| Agent State (Bank State) | - |
Cash Management Wire Customers should plan to review your Creditors (Beneficiaries) on Day 1. You won’t be able to make changes to Creditor information prior to July 14, so please ensure you plan to review in a timely manner.
- Any wires scheduled to be transmitted on or after Friday, July 11, 2025, should be deleted and new ones created in ISO format when that format is available on Monday, July 14, 2025.
- Any current (FAIM) formatted wires transmitted on or after July 11 will be rejected by the Fed.
- Additionally, repetitive/template wires will NOT be converted from FAIM to ISO format. These will need to be recreated.
- International Wires will also require special attention and will not process without manual intervention. The Town Name will be an ISO required field as of July 14, 2025.
Q. WHAT CAN I BE DOING NOW?
- Cash Management Wire Customers please review your existing wire beneficiary templates and delete any that you no longer need or use.
- Be aware of the upcoming changes and review all information we share with you up until the migration date.
- Mark your calendars for July 14, 2025! You’ll want to log in early on this day to re-enter your wire templates and become familiar with the new format.
Q. WHO DO I CONTACT FOR ASSISTANCE?
Cash Management Wire Customers, please contact your local branch or Deposit Operations Department at operations@hanabank.us.
All other wire customers should contact their retail branch.