In November 2026, an important industry wide change will affect how address information must be provided in payment messages, in the case the address information is used.
To ensure continued seamless processing of your payments you must use either:
- Structured address format, or
- Hybrid address format (key address fields structured, with limited free text lines)
From November 15, 2026, and onwards, payment files will be required to be provided with structured or hybrid address information. Payment files sent with an unstructured address will face validation issues, rejections or require manual correction.
In the meantime, both the old and new XML versions will be accepted in parallel to allow for a smooth transition. We encourage you to begin using the new ISO XML 2019 pain.001.001.09 format as soon as possible.
Main changes coming with pain.001.001.09
- For RequestedExecutionDate sub-element Dt is added
- BICOrBEI is replaced with AnyBIC BIC is replaced with BICFI
- Postal address is changed to structured or hybrid
- If postal address detail are used, then at least TwnNm and Ctry values must be filled
Discontinuation of pain.001.001.03
From November 15, 2026, and onwards, ISO XML 2009 pain.001.001.03 support will be discontinued, meaning that the format won’t be validated anymore. Any attempted upload of pain.001.001.03 will fail the validation process. We encourage you to begin using the new ISO XML 2019 pain.001.001.09 format as soon as possible.
How do I as a customer need to prepare?
If you initiate payments via file, please ensure that your vendor records include the new minimum requirements: Town Name and Country Code. If your payment counterparty data records do not currently include the Town Name and Country Code for these parties, please prioritise reaching out to your payees and begin collecting this information as soon as possible.
Review payment file generation: If not already done, update your payment initiation systems (ERP, TMS, host-to-host formats) to support ISO 20022 messaging with structured or hybrid postal address fields.
In case the town name and country code data is not at all available as separate fields in your master vendor data entries, please contact your system vendor and consult how to get the data fields available before November 2026.
What is the purpose of this change?
This update is part of the global move to ISO 20022 standard, now being adopted by major financial network and clearing systems around the world. Switching to structured or hybrid addresses will:
- Improve data quality and reduce errors
- Increase straight through processing (STP) of your payments
- Align your processes with global payment standards
Support
You can find additional resources here:
Frequently Asked Questions
Unstructured address
- Can be used today
- Format - up to two AdrLine sub-elements
- Supported alongside pain.001.001.03 format until November 15th, 2026, usage is discontinued afterwards
Structured address
- Can be used today
- Format – TwnNm and Ctry is mandatory to be used, additional structurized sub-elements can be used alongside
- Mandatory to be used after November 15th, 2026 alongside pain.001.001.09 format
Hybrid address
- Can be used today
- Format – TwnNm and Ctry is mandatory to be used, up to two additional AdrLine sub-elements are permitted
- Alternative to Structured address, alongside pain.001.001.09 format
This change will ultimately affect all payment types why we recommend you cover all types from start when working on your vendor data and payment initiation file creation.
This is a worldwide industry change that affects all banks globally.
We strongly recommend to conduct these changes as soon as possible, to prevent any difficulties with payment processing, coming November.
Yes, the minimum requirements are to enter the town name (TwnNm) and country code (Ctry), if you use the address field and enter an address in structured or hybrid format.
Yes, it does.
Yes, you are able to use our tool, which will help you to report any possible address structure errors in various payment types and their sample files.
This update is part of the global move to ISO 20022 standard, now being adopted by major financial network and clearing systems around the world. Switching to structured or hybrid addresses will:
- Improve data quality and reduce errors
- Increase straight through processing (STP) of your payments
- Align your processes with global payment standards.
