Raafet Choukri — Independent Payments Consultant, Singapore

Practitioner-led consulting for banks and fintechs across SWIFTRef integration, ISO 20022 migration, payment reference data, and payments modernization.

Services

An independent ISO 20022 migration and SWIFTRef integration consultant for banks and fintechs. Explore the research library and topics for the standards and analysis behind this work.

  • SWIFTRef Integration — End-to-end integration of SWIFTRef data products into payment workflows, pre-validation, and SSI maintenance.
  • ISO 20022 Migration — Strategy, gap analysis, and structured-data migration for banks and fintechs moving to ISO 20022.
  • Payment Reference Data — BIC, IBAN, LEI, and settlement-instruction data quality, coverage, and operational controls.
  • Payments Modernization — Cross-border payment architecture, Verification of Payee, and digital-identity integration for payment operations.

In-depth guides: SWIFTRef consulting, BIC Directory, BIC to LEI, and vLEI.

Research Library

A curated collection of research papers, regulatory analysis, and market-structure reports across SWIFT, EPC, ISO 20022, stablecoins, AI, and digital assets.

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Recent Insights & Posts

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About Raafet Choukri

Independent payments and fintech consultant based in Singapore with 15+ years working at the intersection of finance and technology. Specialising in SWIFTRef, ISO 20022, payment reference data, cross-border payments, and digital identity.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does an ISO 20022 migration consultant actually do?
An ISO 20022 migration consultant helps a bank or fintech move from legacy SWIFT MT messages to the structured MX format without breaking live payment flows. In practice that means gap analysis, MT-to-MX mapping (for example MT103 to pacs.008), fixing data-quality and truncation issues, testing against CBPR+ and market-infrastructure rulebooks, and sitting with payments and operations teams through cutover. The goal is a migration that is compliant and operationally safe, not just a translated message.
What is the difference between SWIFT MT and ISO 20022 MX messages?
SWIFT MT messages use rigid, free-text fields with tight character limits, while ISO 20022 MX messages use structured XML where every element has a defined meaning. That structure carries far richer data for compliance, reconciliation and automation. Common equivalents include MT103 to pacs.008, MT202 to pacs.009, MT940 to camt.053 and MT101 to pain.001. The hard part in migration is preserving meaning when richer MX data has to map to or from leaner MT fields.
What is SWIFTRef and which data products matter for payments?
SWIFTRef is SWIFT's reference-data service and the ISO registry for BIC and IBAN formats. For payment processing the key file-based products are the BIC Directory (formerly BIC Plus), IBAN Plus, SSI Plus for standing settlement instructions, and Bankers World for lookups. These feed routing, pre-validation, sanctions screening and onboarding. The hard part is wiring them cleanly into existing payment, compliance and onboarding stacks and keeping the data current.
Why do banks validate IBAN and BIC at the source?
An IBAN is up to 34 characters made of a country code, two check digits and a country-specific account number, and it can be validated mathematically using the mod-97 algorithm before a payment is sent. Validating IBAN and BIC at the source catches malformed or mismatched details early, which cuts repairs, returns and failed payments downstream. Pairing IBAN validation with IBAN Plus data also confirms the IBAN maps to the correct BIC and bank.
What is Verification of Payee (VoP) and how does it affect instant payments?
Verification of Payee is an EPC scheme that checks whether the payee name matches the account before a SEPA payment is sent, to reduce fraud and misdirected payments. Under the EU Instant Payments Regulation it became a mandatory capability for payment service providers offering euro instant payments. For banks it means new real-time name matching, edge cases around close or partial matches, and clear customer messaging when a check does not fully match.
Do you work with banks and fintechs outside Singapore?
Yes. The practice is based in Singapore but works with banks, market-infrastructure providers and fintechs internationally, usually remotely with on-site time around key milestones such as a cutover. Most engagements start with a short call to confirm the problem is one I can genuinely help with.

Want the source material behind these answers? Browse the research library or read the latest insights and posts.

Contact

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