Through this initiative, Filipino corporates will strive for greater automation and standardisation in their communications with banks in the following areas:

Consolidated cash visibility
Auto-reconciliation of bank statements
Standardised payment formats supporting ERP systems
Digital confirmation of treasury transactions (FX and Money Markets)
Have a single platform of communication with multiple banking partners

Alain Raes, Chief Executive Asia Pacific and EMEA at SWIFT said: "Corporates are increasingly leveraging SWIFT in Asia Pacific when it comes to communicating with their banks. SWIFT’s single platform enables communications to all their banks coupled with existent well-defined international standards. We have noticed a growing demand from the corporate community to align the communication standards with banks in the domestic Filipino market. With the C2B initiative, SWIFT will take the lead in defining local market practices for corporates and banks. Especially with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community at the end of 2015; we believe this initiative will drive efficiencies and support the vibrant Filipino economy.”

The Philippines C2B Initiative provides a forum for financial institutions and corporates to progress various corporate-to-bank implementation topics on the use of agreed common standards and market practices, from a global industry standards viewpoint as well as domestic requirements for the Philippines. The goal of C2B Initiative is to simplify implementation for corporate users and, thereby, promote wider acceptance of ISO 20022 as the common standard used between corporates and banks. Other elements of the initiative include corporates use of the MT940 for bank statements, MT101 for payments, MT300 for FX confirmations and MT320 for Money Market confirmations.

The mission of the Philippines C2B Initiative group will be achieved through consultation, collaboration and agreement on common implementation rulebooks for relevant ISO 20022 and other financial messages, leading to their subsequent publication and promotion in order to attain widespread recognition and adoption with all banking partners.