The Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum has published a new version of its IFX Business Message Specification (BMS), Version 1.8. The new release can be downloaded at no charge.
The IFX Forum is an international not-for-profit industry association whose mission is to develop IFX and promote its adoption as an open, interoperable standard for financial data exchange among all sectors of the financial services industry.
"IFX 1.8 brings together the recent significant efforts from several of our Working Groups as well as those of the Architecture Committee," said IFX Forum President Richard P. Urban. "Our members are to be commended for their commitment, focus and effective collaboration. The release itself demonstrates the Forum's commitment to supporting IFX 1.X and its many implementations around the world, even as we collectively work to deliver the next generation of IFX, Version 2.0."
Contents of IFX 1.8
IFX Version 1.8 includes significant content from the Forum's ATM/POS Working Group, extending the functionality of their messages by modifying existing messages, creating new messages for Purchase Transactions, and adding a new message to ensure efficient performance of ATM debits. Additional status codes and message elements have also been added for improved processing of ATM and POS transactions in compliance with requirements of EMV and other financial industry standards.
Another highlight of Version 1.8, achieved by the Forum's Business Banking Working Group, is full integration in the IFX BMS of all Payment Initiation messages registered under ISO-20022. Improved messages for payment initiation, payment status reporting, and payment cancellation or reversal are included.
Version 1.8 of the IFX BMS is distributed in a new download format, replacing the Microsoft Word format previously used. The Microsoft Compiled Help Manual (CHM) format provides improved search capabilities within the specification. Alternatively, the specification is available as a collection of HTML files that can be viewed with any current browser.