About the Bank
State-owned Ukreximbank has successfully completed a large-scale migration to the new international financial messaging standard SWIFT MX (ISO 20022) in partnership with CS. This milestone marks a key stage in modernizing the Bank’s payment infrastructure and enhancing the efficiency of international settlements.
Ukreximbank was among the first banks in Ukraine to launch the SWIFT MX format into full production, ensuring uninterrupted international payments during the global transition to the new standard. Migration to ISO 20022 established a technological foundation for further development of payment services, increased transparency and granularity of payment data, and strengthened the Bank’s readiness for future changes within the global financial ecosystem.
The Challenge
According to the SWIFT roadmap — the global leader in financial messaging — all participating banks were required to migrate to the new SWIFT MX (ISO 20022) standard by the end of 2025.
This transition represents a critical step in the modernization of international payments and involves significant organizational and technological transformation.
For Ukreximbank, the project was of particular importance given its role as:
- a correspondent bank for Ukrainian financial institutions;
- a transit bank for international payments.
In early 2025, Ukreximbank joined other banks in co-financing the migration of the Core Banking System B2 and Internet Banking iFOBS to the SWIFT MX (ISO 20022) standard. This strengthened the project team’s expertise and enabled consideration of complex client scenarios at the early stages of implementation.
Project Specifics
- The project was implemented under conditions of:
continuous updates to the SWIFT roadmap; - partial uncertainty of requirements at the initial stage.
Key Features and Challenges
SWIFT ↔ SEP Interaction
As a correspondent bank, Ukreximbank processes payments received via SWIFT and forwards them to the Ukrainian Electronic Payment System (SEP) for domestic banks.
Processing of Pension Fund Payments
When bulk payment registers are received from iFOBS Internet Banking, the B2 Core Banking System automatically verifies sufficient funds in the Pension Fund’s account and, applying automated processing rules, executes and distributes payments to beneficiaries.
Integration with SWIFT Alliance
Unlike most banks operating via file exchange, Ukreximbank uses seamless real-time integration with SWIFT Alliance.
Message transmission is accompanied by the application of an electronic digital signature, significantly enhancing security.
The Solution
During implementation, Ukreximbank actively participated in testing and became one of the first banks in Ukraine to start receiving SWIFT MX messages from leading global banks.
An additional challenge was the substantial scope of enhancements to the module’s functionality, including the implementation of automated population of payment message tags.
The transition to SWIFT MX covered not only the CBS B2 but also Internet Banking iFOBS, requiring migration of corporate clients to the new ISO 20022 standard.
Within the iFOBS client interface, corporate customers were provided with the ability to:
- create cross-border FX payments in the new MX format;
- perform bulk import of SWIFT MX payment data via XML files;
- reuse beneficiary details from previously created MT-format SWIFT payments when cloning or importing into the new MX format, ensuring a smooth transition.
Through close cooperation between CS and Ukreximbank teams, the project was delivered within the deadlines established by SWIFT and with a level of quality aligned with the expectations of a systemically important bank.
The project involved experienced CS analysts with practical expertise in:
- SWIFT ISO 20022 implementation;
- launching euro payment processing via SEPA in banks of the Republic of Moldova.
The migration was executed as a managed transformation that included:
- support for a hybrid MT + MX mode without interrupting payments;
- adaptation to a non-standard API integration with enhanced security requirements;
- automation of business-critical payment flows, reducing manual processing;
- flexible scope and resource management in response to evolving SWIFT requirements.
Results
Ukreximbank continues to enhance its payment infrastructure in line with global best practices and remains a technological leader among Ukrainian banks in implementing international standards.
Thanks to a phased approach and close collaboration between teams, Ukreximbank became one of the first banks in Ukraine to launch SWIFT MX in full production, maintaining stability of international settlements during the transition period.
Migration to ISO 20022 provides a solid foundation for further development of the Bank’s payment infrastructure, enhances transparency of payment data, and ensures readiness for future changes in the global financial ecosystem.
