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Communicating Between the Microsoft BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT (A4SWIFT) and the SWIFTAlliance Family

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>Abstract

This paper discusses the connectivity to SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Financial Telecommunication) using A4SWIFT (Microsoft® BizTalk® Accelerator for SWIFT).  This paper provides in-depth understanding of how the A4SWIFT connects to SWIFTAlliance Access (SAA) and SWIFTAlliance Gateway (SAG) using the InterAct and FileAct adapters.

This document provides a feature overview and is not a prescriptive guide for installation and configuration. For more information about the details and parameters for installation and configuration, see References.

Note:  SWIFTAlliance Access and SWIFTAlliance Gateway are software products provided by SWIFT for connection to SWIFTNet.

For more information about SWIFTAlliance products, see References.
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>Introduction to A4SWIFT

The Microsoft® BizTalk® Accelerator for SWIFT (A4SWIFT) is the answer for SWIFT enablement and Enterprise Application Integration with SWIFT Messaging through Microsoft BizTalk Server. A4SWIFT is dependent on BizTalk Server and uses the pipeline components, orchestrations, toolkits, templates, Microsoft .NET features, utilities, and deployment guides to help the developer in providing a SWIFT integration environment.

There are several versions of A4SWIFT available for BizTalk Server. These can be classified as follows:

Note:  The 3.0 and later versions of the accelerator also provide the SAG Adapter in the same setup. These adapters can be used along with BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and above.  The earlier versions of the accelerator are incompatible with BizTalk Server 2006 R2.

>A4SWIFT Feature List

A4SWIFT and BizTalk Server

With over 8,000 customers, including 90 percent of the Fortune Global 100, BizTalk Server is a trusted solution for SOA and Business Process Management.  

BizTalk Server comes with a rich set of adapters and accelerators that enable integration with a large number of systems, databases, transaction processors, Web services, and external networks, for example, SWIFT and EDI.

A4SWIFT is integrated with and leverages the full functionality of BizTalk Server, including adapters, schemas, mapping, pipelines, orchestration, management, and BAM.

BizTalk Server 2006 R2  - “In the Box”

A Typical A4SWIFT Deployment

A typical deployment of A4SWIFT has:

• Load-balancedBizTalk Server computers for messaging (sending and receiving)
• Load-balanced BizTalk Server computers for executing the business process (orchestration)
• Load-balanced BizTalk Server computers for accessing the Message Repair and Manual Entry functionality
• Clustered SQL Server computers

The following deployment ensures a secure environment from both the intranet and Internet users:

Configuring Your SWIFT Network

A typical SWIFT environment consists of various components that interact with each other to provide messaging services. The various components interact together with the TCP/IP network within each organization’s boundary. The connectivity between SWIFT and the customer organization happens through the leased line or dial-up connectivity.

In the preceding figure, FIN CBT and the vendor products are the different Financial EAI solutions that process FIN messages and transmit them to the SWIFT network through SAA or SAG.  These solutions can communicate directly to SAG using the Remote API Host Adapter (RAHA)

SNL: SWIFTNet Link (SNL) is a mandatory SWIFT software product required to access and use SWIFTNet services. SNL ensures technical interoperability between users by providing the minimal functionality required to communicate over these services. Its functionality includes transport, formatting, security, and service management.

RAHA:  Remote API Host Adapter (RAHA) is the connector APIs between the workstations and SWIFT Alliance Gateway (SAG). This adapter acts as a messaging concentrator and helps messages transmit to the SAG.

MQSA:MQ Series Adapter (MQSA), The IBM middleware adapter that communicates to the SAA for sending and receiving FIN messages through MQSeries.

HSM:  Hardware Security Modules (HSM) guarantee safe storage of the PKI certificates. These are tamper proof and highly robust secure modules to store the PKI certificates. SWIFT uses the BKE (Bilateral Key Exchange) mechanism to sign and transmit messages securely over the SWIFT Network.  This BKE system is getting replaced by a newer version known as RMA (Relationship Management Application).  

BKE & RMA:  BKE mechanism plays a role in managing business relationships in the FIN environment because exchanging keys for security reasons (i.e. to enable message authentication) confirms the existence of a business relationship and confirms the agreement to allow messages to be exchanged. Not exchanging keys or refusing to complete a BKE process initiated by an unwanted partner prevents the sending, and more specifically in this context, the receipt of unwanted authenticated traffic.

PKI does not offer such a mechanism (since keys are not exchanged between correspondents), so SWIFT will introduce a more powerful way to manage business relationships. The new relationship management application (RMA) will ensure that other users cannot send traffic unless they have received the authorization to send from the receiver. It is always the receiver who grants the sender the authorization to send traffic. The RMA application will manage the exchange of these authorizations.

HTTPS: Secure Hypertext Transport Protocol. A protocol that is used to access Web servers that are hosted on SWIFTNet. The HTTPS proxy, which is a part of SWIFTAlliance Gateway, is used for routing the messages.

>>References

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with MQSeries, FileAct, InterAct, BizTalk Server, SWIFTNet FIN, and SWIFTNet.

• BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT Version 3.0 Documentation
• Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 Adapter for MQSeries Help
• Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 Adapter for MQSeries Installation Guide
• Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2 Adapter for MQSeries Help – server version
• Microsoft Host Integration Server 2006 – MQSeries client adapter
• Getting Started With SWIFTAlliance Access Release 6.0
• SWIFTAlliance Access Windows Release 6.0 – System Management Guide
• MQSA, MQSeries Interface for SWIFTAlliance Access User Guide, Release 6.0
• SWIFTAlliance Gateway Operations Guide, Release 6.0>

Connecting to SWIFT

>>SWIFT Alliance Access

SWIFT Alliance Access (SAA) is a messaging layer that enables interconnectivity between SWIFT and A4SWIFT. The SAA provides physical interconnectivity to receive / send FIN (MT) and MX (ISO 200222) based messages.

A4SWIFT does the integration and most of the manual message activities using the SAA.  The SAA connects to the SWIFT network through the SWIFTNet Link (SNL) using the MQ SWIFT adapter. The SWIFT network also provides session management, sequencing, checksum functions, and message authentication along with high performance and resilience.

SWIFT Alliance Gateway

SWIFT Alliance Gateway (SAG) provides physical connectivity to the SWIFT network and supports several different modes of operation. SAG is used mainly in scenarios where FileAct and InterAct adapters are used for message communication from / to SWIFT. This mode is called strict SWIFTNet Link Mode.

The SAG serves as a message concentrator. It receives messages from various other applications and passes them through SWIFTNet. It receives these messages through host adapters, including a WebSphere MQ host adapter, which enables business applications running on a variety of different types of computing platforms to pass messages through SWIFTNet.

>Connecting to SWIFT Alliance Access (SAA)

A4SWIFT provides message communication and connectivity to SWIFT Network using the SWIFTNet Link (SNL). SWIFT provides multiple ways of connecting to the SWIFTNet Link and one of the important connectivity options is the SWIFT Alliance Access.

SWIFT Alliance Access (SAA) helps in sending and receiving FIN (MT) and ISO20022 (MX) based messages.  A4SWIFT connects and exchanges message communication with SAA using:

• Files and AFT (Automated File Transfer)
• MQ Series

>File Handling and AFT

A4SWIFT leverages the Microsoft BizTalk Server File adapter for interconnectivity between SWIFT and A4SWIFT to receive / send MT\MX files and AFT mode. A4SWIFT also provides an assembler and a disassembler that are utilized while sending / receive message communication to ensure the validity and re-packaging of the messages to ensure communication.

>Sending Messages to SWIFT

BizTalk Server provides support for File folders using the send port(s) that enables sending SWIFT messages to the SWIFT network. The target files, once deposited into the local BizTalk Server send ports (File folders), are picked by BizTalk Server for processing. After the files are deposited, the files are passed on to the assembler component using the outgoing pipeline that ensures that the file has been translated from XML format to a SWIFT-understandable FIN message. These individual files are picked by the AFT (Automated File Transfer) and are transmitted to SWIFT through the traditional SWIFTNet Link and SNL.

BizTalk Server also provides FTP connectivity through the FTP adapter, in scenarios where the File folders are in a different operating system or environment where the files cannot be deposited directly. The availability of such adapters * helps BizTalk Server communicate network and OS agnostic for message processing and communication.

A4SWIFT supports the sending of files of SWIFT FIN messages using a user-supplied orchestration for grouping the outbound messages destined for SWIFT while still in XML format and enclosing these messages in well-defined outbound batch root node tags.  This ensures that the batch of these messages is sent in a single communication instead of multiple communications. This scenario would be useful when the communication lines between SWIFT and the customer organization are dial-up and not dedicated.

>Note:  While using the AFT mode of communication between A4SWIFT and SWIFT, A4SWIFT does not provide support for reconciliation of the ACK(s) received from SWIFT, because the messages are either batched or sent as a File instead of a message.

Receiving Messages from SWIFT Network

A4SWIFT also provides support for receiving messages from SWIFT network directly onto the customer environment using the SAA. BizTalk Server receive ports can be configured to pick up the messages either individually or as a batch of messages.

The message batching is received by the receive ports in two modes:

• RJE format
• Message after Message

The RJE format of messaging is the traditional messaging where a separator (here “$”) is used to send messages in one file. The receive port picks up the file and sends it to the receiving pipeline, which uses the disassembler in A4SWIFT and breaks the file into multiple parts by using the separator. This is done using the “Message Trailer” in the associated receive pipeline. The File transport picks up the messages from the receive folder as soon as they are created.

A4SWIFT supports the reception of files of SWIFT FIN messages, with or without batch headers and trailers, and with or without message headers and trailers. Files of SWIFT messages of a single type without SWIFT headers can be accepted as long as the receiving A4SWIFT pipeline is associated with the schema for the message type for the messages in the file.

>SAA Connectivity Through MQSeries

The sending / receiving of messages by A4SWIFT is through the MQ Series supported by SAA. This is a bi-directional message interface. Using this mode of communication A4SWIFT sends and receives messages through MQ Series using the MQSA adapter.  A4SWIFT also incorporates processing and acknowledgment from SAA using the standard orchestrations.

>Sending Messages to SWIFT

A4SWIFT picks up the messages from the MessageBox database on which A4SWIFT has been configured. The configuration of the message shall necessarily have the following properties (promoted properties) to ensure that A4SWIFT understands that these messages have to picked up and transmitted accordingly. The parameters are:

• Message type (MTxxx)
• Repair required (A4SWIFT_Failed)
• Direction ( based on the SWIFT_BOUND property; if yes then the message is ready to be sent and fires the FRR)

There are certain restrictions in the type of the messages that are sent across to SWIFT:

• Legacy messages that are not supported should not be sent across.
• Messages that are not well formed or have network & usage rules failing should not be sent to the SAA.
• The filter parameter for the send port(s) must be set to A4SWIFT_Failed = False if repair of outgoing messages is to be handled by MRSR (Message Repair and Submission).

The only messages that are required to be sent to SWIFT are those with SWIFT_SwiftBound = True.

Messages to be sent to SWIFT may be entered using the InfoPath® entry or generated by another BizTalk application, or may be introduced in A4SWIFT from other applications.

• When the messages are entered, they are validated against our A4SWIFT FIN schemas and against the rules for the message deployed in the Business Rule Engine.
• If the messages are received from another system in SWIFT format, then they can be validated similarly by using a SWIFT disassembler in the receiving pipeline from the application to A4SWIFT. Messages failing validation can be repaired using the A4SWIFT message repair facilities or returned to the submitting application, which needs to be configured by the user if BizTalk Server is not the source application.
• Messages generated by another BizTalk application (or mapped by a BizTalk application) should be checked during the generation process by using the .NET Validation component included in A4SWIFT to invoke the schema validations and associated rules from within the BizTalk orchestration.

All levels of acknowledgment from SWIFT (ACK/NAK, delivery acknowledgments, delayed delivery warnings, sender acknowledgments, aborts, and delayed NAKs) are received by A4SWIFT through MQSeries, and reconciled with the appropriate outgoing traffic by the FIN Response Reconcilement service. To start the FRR, users should be sure to set the following parameters:

• A4SWIFT_SwiftBound
• A4SWIFT_Failed
• A4SWIFT_FRRCorrelationToken
• A4SWIFT_MessageType

The following diagram gives a good representation of what makes up the FRR and the flow of messages.

Note: There is a separate receive port for the ACK/NAK (F21) messages associated with traffic to SWIFT.

>Receiving Messages from SWIFT

Receiving messages from SWIFT is an easy operation.  The messages are received from SWIFT to the MQSA, which passes the MT message to the disassembler. The disassembler, based on the network rules, redirects the messages appropriately. If the MRSR is enabled in the installation, the MRSR takes over, if the message is considered invalid or incorrect.

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>A4SWIFT and SAG Connectivity

>Connecting to SWIFTAlliance Gateway

The SWIFT adapter is based on the BizTalk Adapter Framework. Using the classifications of adapters within BizTalk Server 2006 R2, the SWIFT adapters, FileAct and InterAct, represent the following:

• Custom Adapter. This is a custom adapter built specifically to interact with the SWIFT network using a proprietary standard called FileAct and InterAct.
• Transport Adapter. This adapter allows business software applications to send and receive messages with the SWIFT network.
• Non-transacted. The adapter does not make use of any transaction object to interact with the SWIFT network.
• Isolated. The receive adapter runs in a separate process and regular send adapters run in process

InterAct Adapter and Connectivity

The InterAct adapter for SWIFTNet provides connectivity between BizTalk Server and the SWIFT Secure IP Network (SIPN) for the transfer of messages. The SIPN transfers messages and files over a secure private network that interconnects financial institutions, financial industry infrastructures, and customers. The InterAct adapter uses the SWIFTNet Link (SNL) application programming interface (API) to connect to the SIPN.

SWIFTNet InterAct provides secure and reliable exchange of individual structured financial messages. SWIFT customers’ messaging requirements vary from customer to customer but also from message to message.

It supports the following functionality:

• PKI security
• Message validation
• Configurable central routing
• Message priority
• Delivery notification for store and forward messages
• Non-repudiation of emission and receipt

You use the InterAct Adapter for SWIFTNet with externally supplied applications to utilize the features of InterAct. This adapter has no knowledge of the contents of the messages to be transferred, and will not audit nor validate the contents of the messages, but checks if the XML is well formed. InterAct adapter supports two message formats:

• Payload. The send port will wrap the payload message inside the InterAct wrapper according to the send port configuration.
• InterAct. The send port expects to receive XML structure that is valid according to the SWIFT SAG operation guide.

SWIFTNet InterAct provides secure and reliable exchange of individual structured financial messages. SWIFT customers’ messaging requirements vary from customer to customer but also from message to message. SWIFTNet InterAct offers you a broad range of telecommunication modes:

• Store-and-forward messaging. SWIFTNet InterAct’s store-and-forward capability is designed for messages destined for a large number of correspondents, many of whom may not be online at the time of transmission. It removes the uncertainty and inconvenience of worrying about whether your correspondents are online at the time you send the message. The message is delivered as soon as the recipient is ready to receive it. As a result, it provides an ideal way to send individual instructions, confirmations, and reports to large numbers of correspondents, some of which may be in different time zones.
• Real-time messaging. Real-time messaging offers a low-cost alternative to store and forward for messages that are destined for correspondents that are online at the time of transmission. As a result, it is ideal for sending individual instructions, confirmations, and reports to a few large correspondents or for messages to market infrastructures.

The optional SWIFTNet InterAct features (on a message-by-message basis) include:

• Message priority. Messages can be flagged as “Urgent” in the message, to allow for appropriate processing by your correspondents.
• Delivery notification (store-and-forward mode). Provides confirmation that your correspondent received your message.
• Non-repudiation of emission and reception. In case of dispute, allows SWIFT to confirm that the message exchange did take place as claimed.

The standard SWIFTNet InterAct features include SWIFTNet PKI security. SWIFTNet FileAct is secured with SWIFTNet PKI and offers message authentication and integrity control.

All messages and files exchanged on SWIFTNet undergo a common set of checks to ensure that no user can bypass the security, validation, and routing rules of the platform. These checks are performed by the SWIFTAlliance Gateway (SAG) application.

Any application that is required to connect to SWIFTNet using SAG has to use one or both of the adapters for message communication. FileAct provides a File transferring mechanism that contains the payload of the message while the InterAct adapter supports interactive exchange of information between two parties.

FileAct Adapter and Connectivity

The FileAct adapter for SWIFTNet provides connectivity between BizTalk Server and the SWIFT Secure IP Network (SIPN) for the transfer of files. The SIPN transfers messages and files over a secure private network that connects financial institutions, financial industry infrastructures, and customers. The FileAct adapter uses the SWIFTNet Link (SNL) application programming interface (API) to connect to the SIPN.

The FileAct adapter provides a mechanism for SWIFT participants to securely and reliably exchange files and information pertaining to those files. It supports the following functionality:

• Sending files to a SWIFTNet user
• Retrieving files from a SWIFTNet user
• Delivery notification confirming file receipt by a receiver
• Abort of transfers in progress
• File transfer state monitoring
• Concurrent file transfers
• Assurance of data authenticity and integrity
• Confidentiality of file data in transit
• Non-repudiation of file transfers
• Time-stamping

The FileAct adapter for SWIFTNet provides secure and reliable transfer of files, such as batches of structured financial messages or large reports. Typical applications include repetitive credit transfers such as pension or salary payments, securities value-added information and reporting, and regulatory reporting. SWIFTNet FileAct offers a variety of messaging modes:

• Store-and-forward file transfer. SWIFTNet FileAct’s store-and-forward capability removes the uncertainty and inconvenience of worrying about whether your correspondents are online at the time you transmit the file. The file is delivered as soon as the recipient is ready to receive it. As a result, it provides an ideal way to send files to large numbers of correspondents, some of which may be in different time zones.
• Real-time file transfer. Real-time messaging offers a lower-cost alternative to store and forward for files that are destined for correspondents that are online at the time of transmission. As a result it is ideal for sending files to a few large correspondents or market infrastructures.
• Real-time file retrieval. This is an interactive service typically used to retrieve files in the context of workstation-based systems and often in conjunction with SWIFTNet Browse. We will support this mode.

The optional SWIFTNet FileAct features (on a file-by-file basis) include:

• Message priority. File transfers can be flagged as “Urgent” in the message, to allow for appropriate processing by your correspondents.
• Delivery notification (real-time and store-and-forward modes). Provides confirmation that your correspondent received your file.
• Non-repudiation of emission and reception. In case of dispute, allows SWIFT to confirm that the file transfer did take place as claimed.

The standard SWIFTNet FileAct features include SWIFTNet PKI security. SWIFTNet FileAct is secured with SWIFTNet PKI and offers message authentication and integrity control.

>>>Building a SWIFT Hub in a Service-Oriented Architecture

Over time, many banks, as a result of organic internal growth or as a result of mergers and acquisitions, have built a complex, overlapping, hard to manage, SWIFT infrastructure, resulting in too many SWIFT connections and avoidable costs.

Today, many banks start thinking about SWIFT integration as becoming a seamless part of the future Service-Oriented Architecture of the bank.

In essence, the vision is that the SWIFT integration solution is a secure, reliable, scalable, and manageable messaging infrastructure — a “service” — that can be used for all SWIFT integration including FIN MT and MX messaging, FileAct, InterAct, secure e-mail, and additional future services from SWIFT. This service can be used by all departments and applications inside a bank, or by all member banks inside a group of banks.

Many banks are referring to this infrastructure (“service”) as a “SWIFT Hub” and see it as:

• A step toward a Service-Oriented Architecture
• A strategic move to gain competitive advantages at a competitive Total Cost of Ownership
• A possible foundation for future services, such as Global Payment Services

The SWIFT Hub, based on BizTalk Server + A4SWIFT:

• Provides a set of services, such as:
  • SWIFT integration
  • Translation and mapping services between various technical (EDI, flat-file, XML) business formats (for example, SAP’s IDoc) and SWIFT’s MT and MX message format
  • Full validation, both schema- and rules-based, of MT and MX messages
  • Enrichment of messages
  • Routing of SWIFT messages between various departments inside a single bank or between the member banks of a bank group, without hitting the SWIFT network, as such realizing considerable cost reduction
  • Central compliancy-checking (OFAC, filtering, anti-laundering) service
  • Central exception handling
  • Central management
  • And many more
• A reliable (clustered or geo-clustered setup), secure, scalable and manageable service

>>>Summary

BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT provides multiple options to connect to the SWIFT network. Based on the payload and the message type (File, FIN, ISO20022, etc.) customers choose the mode of transportation.

The options that are used for connectivity and transportation of message(s) are:

• SWIFTAlliance Access (SAA) connectivity using:
  • Automated File Transfer (AFT)
  • MQ Series adapter transportation
• SWIFTAlliance Gateway (SAG) connectivity using:
  • FileAct adapter in:
    • Real-time mode
    • Store and forward (SnF) mode
• InterAct adapter in:
  • Real-time mode
  • Store and forward (SnF) mode
• SWIFT Hub
  • Benefits of using SWIFT Hub
  • Interoperability for multi location and multi branches for a global organization

The mode of connectivity (SAA / SAG) is determined mostly by the message that needs to be transmitted (MT / MX). This document explains in detail how and what modes of connectivity organizations should use with A4SWIFT based on the component and the usage.

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