Coreum Enables Banks to Act on OCC’s Green Light for Digital Assets

A Universal Standard for Global Finance

Every time you scan a boarding pass, send a wire transfer, or use your debit card abroad, you rely on global standards that make these systems communicate with each other. Without shared formats, even simple transactions would break down across borders or between institutions. In finance, ISO 20022 is becoming that common language, designed to standardize how data moves between banks, networks, and service providers.

The global financial system is advancing toward ISO 20022 as a unified standard for cross-border financial communication. SWIFT’s migration for cross-border payments (CBPR+) began in March 2023 and will continue through November 2025, when support for the legacy MT format officially ends.

Coreum was built to serve as a hub for institutional-grade operations, enabling compliance with global standards and frameworks. A lite client was built to handle and validate ISO 20022 messaging while offering on-chain Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), facilitating secure, compliant transactions across both permissionless decentralized networks and private traditional financial systems.

Coreum’s Role in the Shift to ISO 20022

By December 2024, ISO 20022 adoption had reached 32.9%, with over 1.4 million CBPR+ messages exchanged daily across 150 sending and 220 receiving countries, representing a 6% increase in Q4 alone. More than 70 countries, including the U.S. (via FedNow and RTP), now rely on ISO 20022 to power next-generation payment infrastructure. Where traditional banking systems leverage centralized intermediaries, blockchain offers an alternative: Programmable, decentralized settlement layers.

Coreum makes this shift viable by embedding ISO 20022 at the protocol level. With Coreum, Institutions can leverage blockchain for payments, settlement, and messaging, without overhauling existing systems. The result is faster execution, lower costs, and compliance-ready data flows across both legacy and decentralized networks.

Compliance-Ready Architecture

Coreum’s messaging implementation supports institutional compliance and operational efficiency in blockchain-based payments. It aligns with AML/CFT guidelines and global regulatory frameworks, including the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)’s guidance permitting crypto-related activities for national banks. In addition to ISO 20022 compatibility, Coreum includes:

• AnChain.ai integration for real-time, on-chain KYC/AML monitoring and behavioral analytics.
• Smart Tokens with embedded compliance logic, enabling whitelisting, freezing, blacklisting, and access control at the token level.
• Deterministic fees for predictable transaction costs, essential for treasury and operational planning.
• Qualified custody via BitGo, supporting secure storage of digital assets for regulated institutions.

These capabilities enable banks and financial institutions to adopt blockchain-based settlement workflows without compromising on regulatory oversight or operational control. Onboarding is streamlined through Coreum’s client application, which automates encryption, compression, and message transmission, allowing recipients to decrypt and verify ISO20022 messages using standard XML tools, without manual reconciliation.

Enriched Data Through Messaging Standards

ISO 20022 enables structured, machine-readable financial communication, using XML (Extensible Markup Language) to define and organize data with tagged elements. This format allows institutions to include detailed, standardized information such as tax treatment, transaction descriptions, and intermediary details to ensure consistency across borders and systems.

Coreum extends this capability by integrating smart contracts that automate business logic, reducing manual steps and minimizing operational risk. Its ISO 20022 client abstracts blockchain complexity, allowing institutions to send structured XML messages without overhauling existing infrastructure.

ISO20022 Messaging Example

Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) on Blockchain

Coreum supports high-value RTGS transactions by serving as a blockchain-based settlement layer, replacing the role traditionally held by central clearinghouses. Institutions can choose to settle actual funds on-chain, not just exchange messages, using Coreum’s escrow-based smart contract workflow.

Funds are securely held in escrow until confirmation is received via ISO 20022-compliant messages, such as PACS.008 for credit transfers and PACS.002 for payment status updates.

To remain fully ISO 20022-compatible while supporting digital assets, Coreum uses the supplementary data field to embed asset-specific details alongside standard ISO 4217 currency placeholders. This enables institutions to process crypto-based transactions within existing financial messaging frameworks. Coreum supports DTIF-registered tokens, as well as native assets like ucore, utestcore, and IBC tokens.

A defined clearing instruction initiates the RTGS flow in the Coreum client application. The system then automates the full process: handling messages, managing escrow funding, and releasing funds based on message confirmation.

This model offers a standards-compliant, automated pathway for institutions to adopt blockchain-based payments — while maintaining compatibility with legacy RTGS systems.

Try Coreum’s RTGS simulator here.

ISO 20022 on Coreum: Messaging Workflow

Sending:

1. Parse ISO 20022 XML to extract recipient institution details.
2. Retrieve wallet address and public key.
3. Compress and encrypt the message using Diffie-Hellman key exchange.
4. Mint an NFT from the encrypted payload.
5. Transmit the NFT to a smart contract for secure storage.

Receiving:

1. Query blockchain for incoming messages.
2. Retrieve and decrypt NFT contents.
3. Decompress and parse the XML.
4. Verify sender identity via on-chain metadata.
5. Store message locally in ISO 20022 XML format.

Real-World Use Cases

Coreum’s ISO 20022 lite client unlocks essential applications for regulated financial institutions seeking to modernize operations, reduce overhead, and maintain compliance across emerging payment rails. It offers a practical path to adopt blockchain without sacrificing interoperability or oversight.

• Cross-Border Payments: Reduce intermediaries and fees using blockchain-native ISO 20022 messages.
• Real-Time Settlement: Instantaneous transaction finality via smart contract automation.
• Neo-banking Infrastructure: Support for decentralized financial services and digital-first banks.
• Asset Tokenization: Compliant trading of tokenized assets (e.g., bonds, real estate) using smart tokens.

Combined with Smart Token logic, Coreum enables asset issuance and messaging to work together, embedding compliance rules directly into token behavior. For example, a tokenized bond can restrict transfers to KYC-verified participants and automatically pause trading during blackout periods, enforcing regulatory controls without manual oversight.

A Common Language for the Future of Finance

Just as global standards make it possible to use your debit card anywhere in the world, ISO 20022 is establishing a shared language for financial messaging across borders and platforms.

By embedding ISO 20022 at the protocol level and pairing it with smart tokens, compliance tools, and a streamlined messaging client, Coreum offers institutions a clear path to modernize settlement infrastructure. From cross-border payments to real-time settlement and asset tokenization, Coreum’s ecosystem makes blockchain adoption practical, interoperable, and regulation-ready. For institutions seeking to stay ahead of regulatory shifts and operational demands, Coreum delivers infrastructure built for where finance is going next.

About Coreum

Coreum, the world’s first Superledger, is a 3rd-generation, layer-1 blockchain architected for enterprises of any size. Built on the Cosmos SDK and leveraging Complete BFT consensus, Coreum ensures high security and scalability. With transactional speeds up to 7,000 TPS and ISO 20022 compliance, Coreum enables fast, secure, and economical transactions across its PoS network.

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