TwnNm and Ctry
<TwnNm> (Town Name, max 35 characters) and <Ctry> (Country, an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code) are the two mandatory structured elements of every compliant ISO 20022 postal address from 15 November 2026. They are classified R — Required in the CPMI harmonised data model and together constitute the minimum-viable postal address.
How TwnNm and Ctry works in practice
The rationale is regulatory screening: the EPC notes that only the structured Town and Country fields are needed for it, and FATF Recommendation 16 sets name plus Town Name and Country as the beneficiary minimum. <TwnNm> must carry a non-placeholder value; <Ctry> must match [A-Z]{2}.
Source: CPMI harmonisation requirements — technical annex §0.26 / §0.30 / p5; EPC 153-22 v2.1; the ioNova Postal Address Specification v2.0 Appendix I Q1; Table 22 (§10.2.1).
The minimum-viable postal address:
<!-- Minimum-viable postal address --> <PstlAdr> <TwnNm>WELLINGTON</TwnNm> <Ctry>NZ</Ctry> </PstlAdr>
Parent reference: ISO 20022 structured address mandate.
Sources
Standards & regulatory sources
- Harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for enhancing cross-border payments — technical annex — BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), 26 February 2026.
- EPC guidance document — Provision of Addresses under the EPC Payment Schemes, v2.1 — European Payments Council, October 2025.
ioNova reference material
- ioNova ISO 20022 Postal Address — Requirements and Specifications v2.0, May 2026 — ioNova reference work consolidating the sources above. Request the specification in a demo.
See ioNova ARS in action
The complete ISO 20022 Postal Address — Requirements and Specifications Update 2026 consolidates the CPMI harmonisation requirements, the BIS PIE taskforce report, the PMPG Hybrid Postal Address whitepaper and the EPC address guidance into a single reference.
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