A double challenge

As TARGET2, the core euro payments service, plans to switch all of its payments messages from SWIFT MT to MX formats (ISO 15022 to 20022) in a single ‘big bang’ migration TARGET2 participant banks face a double challenge.

When processing payments, they must send and receive MX formats with the TARGET2 Payments Module (though still using MT formats for other TARGET2 functions, such as statements). But in many cases they will also need to exchange payment information with correspondent banks, many of which will continue to use SWIFT MT formats.

So the basic ability to use MX messaging, and the ability to convert between MT and MX will both be required, and the latter ‘standards coexistence’ will continue for some time. The Target Working Group (TWG) has stated that  “it will be necessary to map between MX and MT and vice versa for an indefinite period”.

---

How Transformer can help

Transformer offers TARGET2 participant banks everything they need to meet these challenges.  Transformer gives project teams the ability to build and maintain complex message validations, mappings and transformations far faster than other methods, and includes high-quality libraries of both ISO 15022 and 20022 (MT and MX) message definitions, along with fully realised mappings for the required MT-MX pairs. These use a range of special mapping functions created by Trace Financial to more efficiently handle the conversion of the most complex message components. 

To address the specific needs of each participant bank, Transformer’s MT-MX mappings are easy to customise and maintain. The analyst or developer can design and build changes to the mappings directly, and as they do not use coding, there is no error-prone hand-off to a separate coding team.

---

Strengths of Transformer

Transformer’s highly intuitive Design-Time GUI presents all project information in a clear, consistent and business-meaningful form. Each field option in the message is identified by a single business-level name, rather than a set of hard-to-read technical qualifiers. This helps the analyst to create a new validation, mapping or other solution far more quickly. 

The huge range of ready-built validation, parsing and mapping functions provided in Transformer helps the analyst to build solutions very quickly and with no need for program code, even in the most complex cases. Transformer also automatically converts dates, rates, amounts and other common data types from the source to the target syntax, so the analyst doesn’t have to waste time on such details as the day-month-year order within a date. This approach produces a clear, self-documenting solution and completely eliminates the errors, misunderstandings and delays that occur when coding is involved. Solutions constructed in Transformer retain their original clarity and readability, making them far easier to maintain.

Transformer provides powerful testing tools for each stage of the solution lifecycle. During the initial build, each element is tested individually as soon as it has been created, ensuring correctness right from the start. Once completed, message-level testing pinpoints any deviation from the relevant standard or market practise rules. Transformer solutions are also easy to maintain when standards are updated or other changes need to be made. ‘Where-used?’ functions ensure that the full impact of any change can be accurately assessed at the outset. After changes are made, regression testing tools efficiently pinpoint every difference between the old and new outputs.

Transformer is easy to deploy, its two-level API and wide range of specialised service builders allow solutions to be flexibly deployed into many kinds of integration architecture, including Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), Web Service (SOA), Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), development frameworks such as .NET or Java, and third-party applications.

---

Deliver your TARGET2 migration project faster

Transformer is revolutionising the way financial organisations and service providers work with messages. With Transformer onboard, your TARGET2 MX project will be a success.

---

Appendix – list of mappings

The following list is provided to help project teams scope their MT-MX coexistence requirements in relation to TARGET2 migration. A more detailed version of this list is available in the project’s General Functional Specification v1.2, January 2014:

TARGET2: MX to MT mappings

Pacs.008 Customer Credit Transfer (core)
Pacs.008 Customer Credit Transfer (STP)
Pacs.009 Financial Institution Credit Transfer (core)
Pacs.009 Financial Institution Credit Transfer (COV)
Pacs.009 Financial Institution Credit Transfer (simplified)
Pacs.010 Financial Institution Direct Debit (draft)
Camt.054 Credit Notification
Camt.054 Debit Notification

TARGET2: MT to MX mappings

MT 103 to MX pacs.008 (core)
MT 103 STP to MX pacs.008 (STP)
MT 202 to MX pacs.009 (core)
MT 202 COV to MX pacs.009 (COV)
MT 202 (simplified) to MX pacs.009 (simplified)
MT 204 to MX pacs.010 (Draft)
MT 900 to MX camt.054 (Debit)
MT 910 to MX camt.054 (Credit)