RBC FIRST CANADIAN BANK TO IMPLEMENT ISO 20022 PAYMENT INITIATION CAPABILITY

Enhancements deliver key benefits to clients

TORONTO – RBC announced the implementation of ISO 20022 payment initiation (pain) standards, providing corporate clients with the ability to send and receive messages in an XML-based format. RBC is the first Canadian financial institution to implement the ISO 20022 standard.

The ISO 20022 standard, which was launched by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) after a global pilot that started in 2007, provides the financial services industry with a common platform for the development of messages in a standardized Extensible Mark-up Language (XML). RBC was the only Canadian financial institution to participate in the pilot.

This solution delivers significant client benefits, including: a standardized file format for supported messages; greater straight-through processing (STP) opportunities; enhanced payment status reports (PSRs); and reduced maintenance.

“It’s clear that the needs of our clients are becoming more global in nature, and that both corporations and financial institutions are having to find ways to communicate with each other in a more standardized manner,” explains Shauneen Bruder, executive vice-president, Business and Commercial Banking, RBC Royal Bank. “The implementation of these standards helps us to meet the diverse and ever-changing needs of our clients; and enables us to communicate with other corporations and financial institutions around the world using the same ‘language’.”

Specifically, the implementation of ISO 20022 will enhance two of RBC’s cash management channels:

SWIFT FileAct (accessed by SWIFT members using SWIFT); and Payables Direct (accessed by non-SWIFT members using RBC’s Web Services or Network Gateway solutions).

In general terms, the benefit of the implementation is that it allows clients to use a single, globally-recognized file format based on XML to send multiple payment types (e.g. wire payments, Automated Clearing House (ACH) credits and debits and Financial Electronic Data Interchange (FEDI) payments). Adoption of either of these solutions can result in significantly reduced IT costs and increased STP.

“There are a multitude of changes that will likely happen over the next few years as the global nature of the financial industry and the global needs of the client continue to grow,” adds Bruder. “Our clients expect us to help them conduct their financial affairs quickly and efficiently, no matter where they want to do business. The implementation of this standardization is just one more example of how we’re working to bring solutions to meet their needs.”