camt v04 → v08: what changes in November 2026

The dates

Since November 2022, the Swiss financial centre has delivered ISO 20022 files in two versions side by side: the 2009 one, whose camt messages are numbered .04, and the 2019 one, numbered .08. The Swiss Payment Standards 2026, published by SIX, end this parallel phase: they take effect on 14 November 2026, and the SIC interbank platform releases its new version on 13 November 2026.

For another bank, the date is the one it announces. They all follow SIX’s calendar: the 2009 version is no longer supported after mid-November 2026.

What changes in the camt file

The statement holds the same information: the account, the balances, the bookings and their details. Some paths in the XML change, and that is where software written for version 04 goes wrong without necessarily stopping: it reads an empty status or no longer finds the payer’s name.

The same booking, a credit of CHF 250.35, in both versions:

<Ntry>  <Amt Ccy="CHF">250.35</Amt>  <CdtDbtInd>CRDT</CdtDbtInd>  <Sts>BOOK</Sts>  <NtryDtls><TxDtls>    <RltdPties>      <Dbtr><Nm>Muster AG</Nm></Dbtr>    </RltdPties>  </TxDtls></NtryDtls></Ntry>

<Ntry>  <Amt Ccy="CHF">250.35</Amt>  <CdtDbtInd>CRDT</CdtDbtInd>  <Sts><Cd>BOOK</Cd></Sts>  <NtryDtls><TxDtls>    <Refs><UETR>6f1e2b3c-4d5e-4f60-8a1b-2c3d4e5f6a7b</UETR></Refs>    <RltdPties>      <Dbtr><Pty><Nm>Muster AG</Nm></Pty></Dbtr>    </RltdPties>  </TxDtls></NtryDtls></Ntry>

Is your software ready?

1. Look at the version of the files you receive now. Open a recent statement in the camt reader: it says whether it is version 04 or 08, and shows the bookings as software should read them.
2. Ask your software vendor whether it reads camt.053.001.08 and camt.054.001.08, and whether it produces pain.001.001.09. A recent release usually does; a custom program needs checking.
3. Test before the date. Most banks deliver version 08 on request already. PostFinance lets you switch the version yourself in E-Finance, and switch back if needed.
4. Have the software read one file of each kind you receive: the end-of-day statement (camt.053) and, if you use them, the QR-bill credit notifications and batch bookings (camt.054).

If you write the code that reads the files yourself, the two changes that break reading are the status, to read in Sts/Cd, and the parties, to read in Dbtr/Pty and Cdtr/Pty. A robust reader accepts both forms during the transition: ours does.

And the payment files?

The payment orders your software sends to the bank change the same day. The pain.001.001.03 file is no longer accepted: it must be pain.001.001.09. Status reports move from pain.002.001.03 to pain.002.001.10.

With the new version, the Swiss Payment Standards require structured or hybrid addresses for every party: the town (TwnNm) and the country (Ctry) always in their own elements. SIX leaves banks free to keep accepting unstructured addresses, but some refuse them from 14 November 2026, Migros Bank for one. The safe course is to store your suppliers’ addresses in structured form now.

<Cdtr>  <Nm>Muster AG</Nm>  <PstlAdr>    <StrtNm>Bahnhofstrasse</StrtNm>    <BldgNb>1</BldgNb>    <PstCd>8001</PstCd>    <TwnNm>Zürich</TwnNm>    <Ctry>CH</Ctry>  </PstlAdr></Cdtr>

In Filetable

In Filetable, a camt.053 statement imports into a table, then each booking is matched to its invoice by your rules: you check only what is left. The camt reader is free and needs no account: the file is read in your browser and sent nowhere.