Swift’s September 2026 adoption data shows genuine progress on structured
postal addresses, and how much of the journey is still to come.
Swift’s latest adoption figures, measured across CBPR+ pacs.008 traffic
in September 2026, show that 25.2% of debtor addresses are now fully
structured. A further 19.8% use the hybrid format, while 50.2% remain
fully unstructured and 4.8% carry no postal address at all. The creditor
side is further behind, with 21.2% fully structured, 12.5% hybrid and
52.7% still unstructured.
The direction of travel is encouraging nonetheless. The unstructured
share of debtor addresses has fallen from 61.2% in April to 50.2% in
September, which is a meaningful shift in the space of five months.
The hybrid figure deserves a closer look than the headline numbers
usually give it. Hybrid was introduced to give banks a workable route
through the migration, allowing town name and country to sit in
dedicated fields alongside retained address lines, and it is fully valid
today. It was designed as a stepping stone rather than a destination,
however, so the figure that best reflects where the industry stands
against the end goal is the 25.2% that is fully structured.
The pace reflects complexity rather than reluctance. Swift has
rescheduled the removal of unstructured addresses rather than abandoned
it, with an update on timing expected before the end of 2026, and
because structured and hybrid addresses already flow across the network
on the current standards release, banks can continue that work at a
measured pace without waiting for a confirmed date.
Aquila helps banks meet the structured address requirement by processing
ISO 20022 natively alongside the existing core banking system rather
than replacing it, so the effort stays where it actually needs to go.
Find out more about native ISO 20022 processing with Aquila
https://aquaglobal.co.uk/solutions/iso20022/
Sources
Swift, “Unstructured address data is being removed. Are you ready?”,
September 2026 adoption figures, scope CBPR+ pacs.008 traffic.
https://www.swift.com/standards/iso-20022/removal-unstructured-address
Swift, ISO 20022 in bytes newsletter, May 2026 edition, April 2026
figures.
https://www.swift.com/insights/news/iso-20022-bytes-payments-call-action-november-2026
