ISO 20022: Convenience, Security, but Who Holds the Keys?

Was the Recent UK Banking Glitch Just a Mistake—Or a Glimpse into a Financial Reset?

Imagine waking up to find that your bank account is missing money, transactions have vanished, or payments are inexplicably delayed. That’s exactly what happened to thousands of UK bank customers in early 2024 when a “technical glitch” disrupted major financial institutions. But was it truly a random system error, or was this a prelude to something much bigger—the transition to a new global banking infrastructure?

For years, financial experts have warned about a shift in the banking system, one that would move us toward a fully digital monetary world. Enter ISO 20022, the new financial messaging standard that is being rolled out globally. While touted as a more efficient and secure system, it raises a crucial question: Who controls the future of money?

A Look Back: From Telex to SWIFT to ISO 20022

To understand where we are heading, we need to look at where we’ve been.

Telex (1970s–1990s): Before modern digital banking, banks relied on the Telex system to send transaction messages manually. This system was slow, cumbersome, and prone to human error.
SWIFT (Introduced in 1973): The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) replaced Telex with a standardized, automated messaging network, becoming the backbone of global financial transactions.
ISO 20022 (First Introduced in 2004, Full Implementation by 2025): The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 20022 aims to replace SWIFT with a more structured, data-rich, and blockchain-compatible system that allows real-time financial transactions with enhanced tracking and compliance features.

What’s Really Happening?

The UK banking glitch in early 2024 happened at a time when banks were actively transitioning to ISO 20022. Coincidence? Maybe. But let’s consider the bigger picture.

ISO 20022 is not just an upgrade—it’s a fundamental shift in how money moves globally. With its richer data structure, regulators and institutions will have unprecedented visibility into every transaction. It aligns with the rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and programmable money, where authorities could potentially control how, when, and where your money is spent.

If this recent glitch was a test run for a new financial era, what does that mean for personal financial sovereignty?

Conclusion: A Glitch or a Reset in Disguise?

The recent UK banking failure may have been an unfortunate error, but it serves as a wake-up call. As we move toward a fully digital financial system, the convenience and security promised by ISO 20022 come at a cost: control.

With banks and governments having deeper access to financial data and potential control mechanisms, we must ask:

Are we witnessing the dawn of a seamless global financial network—or the groundwork for a system where your financial freedom is dictated by unseen hands?

The answer may determine the future of money as we know it.