SWIFT launches standard change for 2021

First, it’s good to know that the change is mainly happening in the SWIFT messaging standards, which are used by banks to communicate to each other. If you are the applicant of guarantees, you can continue to use the same channel as you are used to – we’ve contacted the corporates who need to do mandatory changes to continue communicating with us using SWIFT MT 798, others need not worry. Customers requesting only guarantees issued on paper might not even see a difference.

The big change is that demand guarantees and standbys will be transmitted using a structured messaging format: the beneficiary, applicant, guarantee amount and expiry date will all have their own fields, instead of the big free text field used today, containing everything. This will allow for further automation. If you are the beneficiary of guarantees transmitted by SWIFT from foreign banks, the messages will look different than what you are used to, but our staff will do our best to help where required. If you are interested in the details, you can review our webinar on the SWIFT release, held in June 2021.

At the same time, we are taking the opportunity to clarify our standard guarantee texts in SWIFT formats and paper alike, in order to comply with the new messaging standard and ensure that our undertaking is clear and understandable. This ensures our guarantee is consistent regardless of whether it is transmitted through the SWIFT network, or printed on paper. Rest assured, the content will remain balanced for both buyer and seller alike, as the changes are mainly to clarify the wording. Our new standard texts will be published on nordea.com on the week leading up to the go-live, which is on 21 November 2021.

For more information, write to Lars at Lars.Stromfors [at] nordea.no.