Recently, P27 informed that they have chosen to withdraw their application for a clearing license from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority - ‘Finansinspektionen’. Many questions have arisen in connection with this and what happens next is still unclear but let's go through what we know right now.
P27 is closing down
P27 is a bank-wide initiative to create a new Nordic payment infrastructure. It is a collaboration between the six largest banks in the Nordic region to build a new modern, stable payment platform and open for innovative payment solutions. P27 and the owner banks will now reassess the direction and scope of the initiative, according to some of the owner banks' websites.
Despite changed conditions, the owner banks will continue to take full responsibility for the Swedish payment infrastructure. The migration to a new file format, the ISO 20022 standard, is proceeding according to plan and is not affected by this change, according to the dialog we have with the banks.
What happens to Bankgirot (BGC)?
Bankgirot, which is currently licensed to conduct the clearance of bulk payments, was created in 1959. BGC is based on an outdated technology and everyone agrees that it needs to be modernized. How and when remains to be seen, but operations will be maintained until new solutions are implemented.
“The ISO20022 format will be implemented as the new payment format in both Sweden and our Nordic neighbors, regardless of what happens with the P27 cooperation”
The difference between the ISO transition and P27?
It is important to separate the ISO transition and P27, they are not the same thing. The ISO20022 format is being implemented as the new payment format in both Sweden and our Nordic neighbors, regardless of what happens with the P27 cooperation.
Already in 2014, Finland as a member of the Eurozone went over to ISO20022 in its entirety. In 2016, we in Sweden went over to ISO20022 for Euro payments (SEPA). This was before the P27 project was launched.
Norway will phase out its local formats such as Telepay and Cremul in 2024. P27 thus chose to apply the formats that were already agreed as an EU standard.
Continued focus on the transition to ISO20022
In other words, we at Pagero will continue our work to help companies streamline their payment flows. The banks have different time frames for when the transition to ISO 20022 will take place and the closest dates are SEB (Q2) and Nordea (Q3).
What are the benefits of ISO20022?
An international format that harmonizes payments within the Nordic region
The format contributes to better quality with more information
Increased customer value
More efficient and secure payments and matching processes
The possibility of faster payments
The banks' new products are based on ISO20022 and are designed to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the format.
We at Pagero will, of course, continue to follow the development and inform you regularly about what happens.
Are you curious about how Pagero's e-banking solution can help you in the transition to ISO20022 and at the same time streamline your payment flows? Contact us and we will be happy to explain further!
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