For decades, the plumbing of global finance has relied on a patchwork of protocols, proprietary formats, and manual reconciliation. Each payment, no matter how digital it appeared, was in fact a chain of messages stitched together
across time zones and intermediaries.
Today, that world stands at a threshold. A new data standard—ISO 20022—is becoming the lingua franca of financial messaging. In parallel, distributed ledgers, tokenized deposits, and central-bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are redefining how value itself moves.
Between these two arcs—structured information and programmable money—lies the most profound transformation of payments in a generation.
Two Worlds, One Transition
The global payment ecosystem today exists in two overlapping realities. The
legacy world operates on SWIFT’s MT messages and batch-based Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems with limited data capacity. Messages are thin; reconciliation is thick. Errors and exceptions are often corrected by people rather than machines.
The emerging world, by contrast, is shaped by ISO 20022—an extensible XML/JSON schema that encodes richer, more contextual information. It allows every payment to carry its own narrative: the purpose, the counterparty,
the compliance trail. Automation and analytics replace the opacity of legacy formats. Yet this transformation is far from complete. Many institutions now inhabit a hybrid state—sending ISO 20022 messages outward while their internal cores still run on the
past. Coexistence, not uniformity, is the defining feature of 2025.
A Quiet Revolution Already Underway
Across regions, progress is uneven but unmistakable.
SWIFT has entered its coexistence phase, with ISO 20022 becoming mandatory for cross-border payments by late 2025. Europe’s TARGET2 and SEPA Instant are fully compliant, while the United Kingdom has migrated CHAPS and is preparing Faster Payments. In the United
States, both Fedwire and CHIPS will transition within a year. India’s RTGS and NEFT systems are partially aligned, and UPI—though not formally under ISO—mirrors its data structure. In the Gulf, the GCC-RTGS network and national instant-payment systems are
being designed for ISO-native interoperability.
Even central banks are embracing the same standard as the messaging backbone for digital-currency experiments—from the ECB’s trials to BIS mBridge, MAS Ubin+, and the Reserve Bank of India’s digital rupee. The world is not uniform,
but the trajectory is clear: a convergence around common syntax.
The Limits of Messaging
ISO 20022 standardizes communication, not liquidity.
It defines what a transaction means, not when it settles. Beneath these rich data flows, value still moves through correspondent accounts and central-bank ledgers bound by cut-off times, liquidity buffers, and regional calendars.
In other words, the message has become instant, but the money has not. This disconnect—between informational speed and financial finality—is now the fault line of modern payments.
The Missing Layer: Tokenized Money
Bridging that gap requires re-imagining what constitutes the settlement asset itself. Stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and wholesale CBDCs represent different answers to the same question: how can value move with the same programmability as information?
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Stablecoins provide global liquidity but depend on credible backing and regulation.
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Tokenized deposits keep money within the banking perimeter while allowing 24×7 transfer.
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CBDCs combine sovereign trust with digital architecture.
Each offers the potential for atomic, conditional, and round-the-clock settlement—payments that clear not merely faster, but
smarter.
Blockchain as Infrastructure, Not Ideology
Much of the public debate on blockchain has been either evangelical or dismissive. Both miss the point. In practice, distributed ledger technology is becoming a complementary infrastructure layer—a transparent, auditable medium
for recording ISO-compliant transactions.
A blockchain that supports ISO 20022 metadata can embed regulatory information directly within the transaction record, enabling auditability without additional paperwork. Middleware and application-programming interfaces already
translate ISO messages into smart-contract instructions, allowing legacy financial institutions to interact with distributed ledgers without replacing their core systems.
In effect, blockchains are learning to speak the same language as banks. As SWIFT transitions its network to ISO 20022, these systems can act as interoperable settlement fabrics rather than external disruptors.
Why Stablecoins Still Matter
Even in an ISO-aligned world, one needs a value instrument to complete the circuit. Standardized messages tell us
what to transfer and to whom; they do not define the asset being transferred. Tokenized fiat or central-bank digital money serves that role.
Think of the ecosystem as four coordinated layers:
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ISO 20022 provides the grammar.
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SWIFT, RTP, or domestic RTGS networks provide the transport.
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Stablecoins or tokenized deposits supply the settlement asset.
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Blockchain or DLT systems record the transaction and enforce conditions.
Together they enable programmable settlement without sacrificing regulatory integrity.
The Architecture of Coexistence
The near-term future is not about replacement but alignment. The emerging architecture will likely feature:
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ISO 20022 as the universal data language;
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legacy and next-generation networks sharing routing duties;
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tokenized money acting as the bridge between banking and blockchain; and
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distributed ledgers ensuring transparency and immutability.
This coexistence model reconciles innovation with continuity—a pragmatic pathway rather than a revolutionary leap.
From 2025 to 2030: A Timeline of Convergence
By 2026, the coexistence phase of SWIFT’s migration will end, making ISO 20022 the default for cross-border communication. Within two years, several central banks will connect domestic RTGS systems to pilot CBDC networks, enabling
direct digital settlement. Between 2027 and 2030, regulated stablecoins and tokenized deposits are expected to mature under frameworks such as Europe’s MiCA, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s tokenization guidelines, and evolving Federal Reserve policy.
By the end of the decade, payments will be not only faster but context-rich—where the instruction, verification, and value transfer occur as one continuous transaction across interoperable networks.
The Convergence We Are Living Through
The transformation unfolding is less a revolution and more an alignment of three layers:
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Message standardization, which enables transparency and automation;
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Network interoperability, which allows frictionless routing; and
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Value tokenization, which delivers instant, programmable finality.
When these three synchronize, money will move at the speed of information. Liquidity management, treasury operations, and cross-border remittances will become data problems rather than time problems.
A Personal Reflection
Having witnessed payment systems evolve across continents—from the early modernization of RTGS frameworks to the integration of digital wallets and tokenization protocols—I have learned that financial innovation endures only when
it aligns with trust and policy.
ISO 20022 aligns data.
Blockchain aligns trust.
Tokenized money aligns value.
When these align under the stewardship of regulators, technologists, and financial institutions working together, we achieve not disruption but responsible evolution.
The future of payments will not be defined by those who move the fastest, but by those who move most coherently—those who see technology not as a race, but as a covenant between innovation and stability.
Dr Ritesh Jain
Payments Advisor | Technologist | Global Open Banking Expert