SWIFT Sets New Standard in Cross-Border Payments

Secure financial messaging services provider SWIFT has collaborated with payment industry players to launch a global payments innovation initiative aimed at improving customer experience in correspondent banking.

To initially focus on a business-to-business payments service supported by participating banks, the initiative promises to increase speed, transparency and predictability of cross-border payments.

The service addresses end-customer needs without sacrificing banks’ abilities to comply with their obligations, market, credit and liquidity risk requirements.

It will also help corporates grow their international business, enhance supplier relationships and improve treasury efficiencies.

Corporates will also receive an improved payments service directly from their banks with features such as same day use of funds, transparency and predictability of fees, end-to-end payments tracking and transfer of rich payment information.

The service will operate on SWIFT’s global platform on the basis of ‘business rules’ captured in multilateral service level agreements (SLAs) between participating banks.

Any supervised financial institution that is a SWIFT member can take part in the initiative.

The new service will pilot early next year focusing on cross-border payments for corporates.

After the pilot, SWIFT plans to integrate more innovations and roll out new technologies as part of the global payments innovation initiative.

Gottfried Leibbrandt, CEO of SWIFT, commented, “Correspondent banking serves the industry with millions of secure cross-border payments day in, day out; with this initiative we are building on those strengths, enabling banks to provide distinctive cross-border payments services and providing real benefits to end customers. This is a critical step in cross-border payments innovation.”