New Payment Transactions – Part 3: The Timeline

Payment transactions in Switzerland are being fundamentally renewed. This has far-reaching consequences for all participants. Findea explains in a four-part series of articles what is changing and what adjustments are coming for the participants. This third article shows what changes will be made by when.

Different Schedules

‍All financial institutions are required to implement and carry out the new standards brought about by the new payment transactions. The restructuring towards the new payment transactions is divided into two phases. For each, there is a deadline by which these changes must be completed. However, there can be differences within this timeframe. This is because companies within this timeframe determine themselves when exactly they will make the changes. Which changes are made and who is affected can be found in Part 1 or Part 2 of this series of articles.

‍Phase 1: Changes by end of 2017 or mid 2018

‍The first phase includes the transfer process, direct debit process, and notification & reporting. PostFinance will implement these changes by the end of 2017. From January 1, 2018, it will no longer accept payment data in the old format. For the remaining financial institutions, it is planned to take until mid-2018 before they only work with the new formats. Since every company is free to set their own timetable, deviations may occur.

‍Phase 2: Changes by 2020

‍In the second phase, the payment slips will be standardized. The new payment slip with QR code will be used from January 2019. Subsequently, there is a transition period until 2020 during which the old payment slips can still be used. From January 2020, there will only be the universally valid QR payment slip. Here you can find more information about ISO 20022 or the schedule.