meta_id 3438339

On August 27, 2026, the Bank of England announced it would delay its November 2026 Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) standards release following Swift's decision to postpone the November 2026 Swift Standards Release. Swift delayed its release based on industry requests for additional time to prepare for the removal of the unstructured postal address format, citing concerns about global readiness. The Bank of England's deferred November 2026 RTGS standards release includes messaging standards for Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) payments. The Bank determined that maintaining global alignment with Swift and other major market infrastructures was essential to preserve interoperability and avoid introducing new implementation risks. By deferring the entire RTGS standards release rather than separating individual changes, the Bank aligns with Swift's decision to delay the entire Cross-Border Payments and Reporting Plus (CBPR+) standards release. This coordinated approach prevents the challenges and risks that could arise from attempting to separate changes at a late stage in the implementation cycle. The Bank of England will continue engaging with Swift, other market infrastructures, and RTGS participants to determine next steps and provide updated timelines. Further details on revised implementation schedules will be communicated through the Bank's ISO 20022 implementation programme for CHAPS and RTGS to enable organisations to adjust their own planning accordingly. The Bank emphasised that this delay supports a coordinated global approach to payments messaging standardisation while mitigating risks for both the Bank and industry participants.