Understanding ISO address requirements and formats

With the adoption of the ISO 20022 standard, the industry is looking to streamline information to help reduce friction in the end-to-end payment journey. As a result, Swift and various domestic clearing schemes are introducing new data requirements.

Under ISO 20022 standards, a new hybrid address format will be supported from November 2025.

What this means for you

For any addresses you’re currently including in your payment instructions, you will need to apply the structured or hybrid address format.

To help you plan your payment file updates, here are the current timelines:

For all Priority Payments:
	Now	From November 2025	From November 2026
Address with Town Name and Country provided at minimum *	Encouraged	Encouraged	Mandatory
Address with Town Name and Country provided at minimum *	Supported formats: Structured Unstructured	Supported formats: Structured Unstructured Hybrid	Supported formats: Structured Hybrid
* The following address fields currently support structured address format only: Ultimate Debtor, Ultimate Creditor and Initiating Party. After November 2026, HSBC will only process instructions that are submitted using either a hybrid or structured address format option.

Important: to make sure your payment files aren’t rejected, make sure you plan to include the mandatory information in line with the deadlines provided above.

Here are examples of the different Swift ISO address formats:

‘Structured’ address (supported now and in the future)	‘Hybrid’ address (supported from November 2025)	‘Unstructured’ address (not supported from November 2026)
Name JOHN SMITH Postal Address Street Name HOOGSTRAAT Building Number 6 Floor 18 Postal Code 1000 Town Name BRUSSELS (required) Country BELGIUM (required)	Name JOHN SMITH Postal Address Postal Code 1000 Town Name BRUSSELS (required) Country BELGIUM (required) Address Line 1 HOOGSTRAAT 6, 18th floor	Name JOHN SMITH Postal Address Address Line 1 HOOGSTRAAT 6, 18th floor Address Line 2 BRUSSELS 1000 BELGIUM
or in ISO technical terms: <Nm>JOHN SMITH</Nm> <PstlAdr> <StrtNm>HOOGSTRAAT</StrtNm> <BldgNb>6</BldgNb> <Flr>18</Flr> <PstlCd>1000</PstlCd> <TwnNm>BRUSSELS</TwnNm> <Ctry>BE</Ctry> </PstlAdr>	or in ISO technical terms: <Nm>JOHN SMITH</Nm> <PstlAdr> <PstlCd>1000</PstlCd> <TwnNm>BRUSSELS</TwnNm> <Ctry>BE</Ctry> <AdrLine>HOOGSTRAAT 6, 18th floor</AdrLine> </PstlAdr>	or in ISO technical terms: <Nm>JOHN SMITH</Nm> <PstlAdr> <AdrLine>HOOGSTRAAT 6, 18th floor</AdrLine> <AdrLine>BRUSSELS 1000, BELGIUM </AdrLine> </PstlAdr>

What you need to do

We recommend that you start looking at the data that you provide to us and, if applicable, work closely with your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and/or Treasury Management System (TMS) providers to start making updates to comply with this mandatory industry requirement.

Find out more

To learn more about how HSBC is aligning with the ISO 20022 standard, please visit our ISO 20022 website.

For additional questions and to obtain new File Format Specifications guides, contact your local HSBC representative.