ISO 20022: our latest update for Hong Kong and the US

Last updated: 3 April 2024

Further to our communication about ISO 20022 adoption timelines last month, local infrastructures in Hong Kong and the US will be adopting the ISO 20022 standard for some domestic payments from April 2024.

What this means for you

With the adoption of ISO 20022 in Hong Kong and the US, the industry will streamline certain payment details that will help reduce friction in the end-to-end payment journey. Currently, there will be minimal impact to the way you submit your payment instructions in HSBC payment channels.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Payments in Hong Kong
  Hong Kong’s real-time gross settlement (RTGS) payment infrastructure will be adopting ISO 20022 for domestic clearing on 22 April 2024.

  From 22 April 2024, when creating a ‘Single payment – CHATS/Telegraphic Transfer (Priority Payment)’ in HSBCnet, please do not use the codeword /INS/ (Instructing institution which instructed the sender to execute the transaction) in the ‘Instruction to bank’ field. If you use this codeword, your payment may be delayed or rejected.

  Important note: if the /INS/ codeword is currently used in your CHATS payment templates or files submitted through HSBCnet or HSBC Connect, you will need to update them to avoid payment delays or rejections.

• Payments in the US
  In the US, the CHIPS clearing system is migrating to the ISO 20022 standard on 8 April 2024. CHIPS is the largest private sector USD clearing system and one of the clearing mechanisms through which domestic USD Priority Payments are settled.

  We’re telling you this for your awareness only. You don’t need to make any changes to your US payments currently.

A reminder about statements and reporting:
You may have started to see a ‘+’ in the statement narrative for some incoming transactions from March 2023, indicating that payment details have been truncated due to space constraints. If you need access to additional payment information (as per ISO 20022 standard), please contact your HSBC representative.

What you can expect from us

As we continue to enhance our payment channels to extend the benefits that the ISO 20022 standard offers, we will provide further communications about updates to payment files and HSBCnet payment screens.

Readiness Handbook: Corporate Customers❯

Readiness Handbook: Financial Institution (FI) Customers❯

Find out more

For additional resources and to learn about how HSBC is adopting the new language of payments, please visit our ISO 20022 website.

If you have further questions, please contact your local HSBCnet Support Centre or HSBC representative.