Changes to international payments

From November 2026, industry-wide changes will be introduced to the information required when making international payments.

These changes form part of ISO 20022, a global payments standard designed to enable faster, more secure and more efficient processing.

Below, we have set out what is changing and what this means for you.

What is changing for Coutts clients?

  1. Within our digital services and other payment channels, when making payments to accounts in Australia, Canada, Cuba, India and Turkey, or making payments in Canadian dollars, it will be mandatory to fill in the ‘Town/City’ and ‘Country’ payee address fields.
  2. For payments to all other countries and those not in Canadian dollars, an address is optional, though recommended to help avoid delays. If you wish to add an optional address, then it will be mandatory to fill in the 'Town/City' and 'Country' fields.
  3. Any free format payee address information you used previously will still be visible but, from November 2026, this information will need to be re-entered into the six new structured address fields if you wish this to be sent with the payment.

These changes will be introduced to SEPA and SWIFT payments for:

  • Future dated payments
  • New payees
  • Saved payees
  • New/existing Standing Orders
  • Bulk Uploaded payments (Commercial Only)
  • Payment Lists (Commercial Only)

We will update our digital service and any other payment channel accordingly ahead of the November 2026 regulatory deadline and will notify you once the new fields are available.

What action do I need to take?

While these changes won’t take effect until later in 2026, you may wish to prepare in advance by reviewing and managing your existing payee details to ensure you have the full address. This will mean that you can easily transfer address details into the new structured format once available.

Once our updated digital services are live, you should:

  • Manage your existing payees within our digital services and update the address details to ensure you have accurate payee address details, including Town/City and Country where required.
  • Review any Standing Orders , particularly those sent to countries with additional requirements and update the payees accordingly.
  • Allow additional time to make payments if you are unsure of the information needed.

We’re here to keep you informed and supported

We will continue to support you through these changes:

  • This page, coutts.com/payments, will be regularly updated with the latest information
  • Messages within our digital services will highlight upcoming changes and requirements
  • Your Private Banker and Coutts 24 are available if you need any additional guidance, and may reach out to you directly to support updates to:
    • Future dated payments
    • Standing Orders
    • Existing payees

Frequently asked questions

What are the new field names for the payee address?

Name Description Mandatory/Optional
Building Name Specific building name Optional
Building Number Specific building number Optional
Street Name Name of the street Optional
Postal Code ZIP or postal code Optional
Town Name Town or City Mandatory
Country Payee’s country of residence Mandatory