In-flow Translation Vs Swift Translator - The two message translation services by Swift

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Swift's In-flow Translation Service

Swift provides two types of translation services for greater flexibility of its members undergoing CBPR+ migration. Both of these services are equally useful in the CBPR+ migration scenario.

The in-flow translation service is available on FinPlus network and the translation occurs during the message exchange at Swift
It is based on the translation rules defined by the CBPR+ working group
The in-flow translation always translates MX to multi-format(MX+MT), it does not work the other way (MT to MX)
Not all MX messages sent to Swift FinPlus are subject to in-flow translation, this service is for selected essential messages

Thus, the in-flow translation along with the Transaction Manager is going to be a critical fallback support for Swift and its members to keep the payment flow uninterrupted post Nov 2025.

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Swift Translator

The Swift translator is network and interface independent
It can be deployed locally in customer's (i.e., bank's) environment and is very flexible to use
It can be customised according to the customer's needs - customer can define, validate and translate from and to any messaging format ( MX to MT as well as MT to MX)
It also has ready-to-use mapping library (like MT 103 to CBPR+ pacs.008) to help accelerate validations

Thus, the Swift translator can be used as a quick and handy tool to validate message mappings, but banks should not rely solely on such local translations while preparing themselves for the end of MT-MX coexistence and must eventually implement a native ISO 20022 solution for themselves.

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