Commerzbank is updating its payment platform in Germany to process cross-border payments via the SWIFT network and process high-value and urgent payments via the TARGET 2 or EURO 1 Payment systems.

To achieve this, the German bank is implementing the TRAVIC-Payment Hub developed by PPI which has meets the International Organisation for Standardisation 20022 (ISO 20022).

Commerzbank said the migration to the payment platform will be completed by the end of 2025. From this point the bank will use it to process all payment messages in Germany for customer activities relating to foreign commerce, treasury and liquidity management in ISO 20022 format.

The platform has been developed for the compulsory ISO formats, with the bank saying this will make it easier to introduce and integrate new products for international payments in the future.

The company added that an ISO-native IT platform is now “indispensable” for processing mandates for international payments and expanding on existing offerings in an economically viable way.

It warned that systems not consistently based on ISO 20022 cause “high maintenance times and secondary costs”.

“Commerzbank is one of the leading banks for German foreign trade and wants to retain its leading market position in cash management, a position that has been confirmed in studies,” said Simone Loefgen, global head of payment platforms, Commerzbank. “With the integration of the TRAVIC-Payment Hub from PPI AG, we will tap into the full potential of ISO 20022, and we will be able to offer our Private and Small Business Clients and Corporate and Institutional Clients considerably better services for executing payments and important innovations for cross-border payments.”

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