HeaderReplaces FIN Basic Header / Application Header (blocks 1–3)Nov 2026 milestone
head.001

Business Application Header (BAH)

CBPR+ identifier
head.001.001.02
Area
Header
MT equivalent
FIN Basic Header / Application Header (blocks 1–3)
Exchanged
Wrapped around every CBPR+ / HVPS+ business message.
The November 2026 rules harden BAH validation — mismatches between MsgDefIdr/BizSvc and the payload are rejected rather than tolerated.

Overview

The Business Application Header is the ISO 20022 equivalent of the FIN header blocks. It carries the business sender and receiver (as BICs), the message definition identifier (e.g. pacs.008.001.08), the business service (e.g. swift.cbprplus.02), a unique business message identifier, and the creation timestamp.

Under CBPR+ the BAH is mandatory and strictly validated. Routing, duplicate detection, and service-level agreements all key off BAH content rather than anything inside the document payload.

Key elements

ElementNameNotes
Fr/FIId/FinInstnId/BICFIBusiness sender BIC
To/FIId/FinInstnId/BICFIBusiness receiver BIC
BizMsgIdrBusiness message identifierUnique per message; basis for duplicate control.
MsgDefIdrMessage definition identifiere.g. pacs.008.001.08 — must match the payload.
BizSvcBusiness servicee.g. swift.cbprplus.02.
CreDtCreation date-time (UTC)

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