SWIFT AND THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS
Even before Covid-1 9 , ours was an industry
influx, as payments providers, both old and new,
sought to address customer demands for rich
capabilities, simplicity and increased
predictability. Across the value chain, financial
services providers have been stepping up and
embracing digitisation, all while navigating the
challenges posed by cost pressures, regulatory
changes and legacy technology.
At SWIFT, we have been advancing too. Having
made significant progress over the past five
years with the adoption of SWIFT gpi, real-time
payments, APIs and cloud, we are now building
on these achievements to deliver even greater
speed and agility in the cross-border
payments space.
Strong foundations
Simplifying payments between financial
institutions and their customers has been core to
our mission since the 197 0s. Since then, we
have transformed that experience for the better,
time and time again.
Possibly the biggest single leap forward has
been the global payments innovation initiative
(commonly known as gpi) in 20 17. SWIFT gpi
has dramatically enhanced the day-to-day
experience of sending payments, leaving the
market now accustomed to its benefits. For
instance, the ability to track a payment in real-
time and receive final confirmation of credit are
no longer nice-to-haves, they are the new
baseline.
Today, more than 4, 000 financial institutions are
signed up to gpi, between them sending
payments worth USD 77 trillion last year alone.
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transparency that gpi brings deeper and deeper
into domestic markets by integrating with real-
time systems in markets all around the world.
Continued responsible innovation
In the pre-transaction area, this year we are
bringing to market a pre-validation service for
gpi. This will initially allow beneficiary account
information to be validated before a payment is
sent. A real-time API-based mechanism will
enable sending banks to send and receive API
calls over SWIFT to seamlessly check beneficiary
account information with the ultimate receiving
banks, allowing them to speedily remedy any
inaccurate or missing information, reducing
delays and costs.
When a problem occurs after a transaction, our
new case management solution will allow
financial institutions to use the gpi tracker to
quickly resolve them. While the overall number
of international payments that are subject to an
investigation is very low, the effort it takes to
resolve them is not. It has been a time-consuming
and labour intensive process, often involving
multiple back-and-forth emails and phone calls
before the issue is resolved.
For financial institutions, trying to explain such
delays to their end-customers can also put a
strain on relationships. To remove the burden of
handling exceptions and investigations, our
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allows for dynamic query handling between
banks on the SWIFT network, enabling them to
quickly resolve any problems.New standard for payments
We are making payments smarter and more
efficient by going all in on ISO 20022. ISO 20022
is an increasingly established global standard
for payments messaging. Already used by
payment systems in more than 70 countries, in
the coming years it will be the de facto standard
for high-value payment systems of all reserve
currencies, supporting the vast majority of the
global volume and value of transactions.
Richer, structured, more meaningful data will
enable new client experiences, while improving
compliance and efficiency. By providing
consistent data across the board, we can remove
many of the inefficiencies that cost institutions of
all sizes precious time and money.T
he pandemic has brought with it public
health crises, economic upheaval and
widespread uncertainty. It is forcing
businesses to recalibrate and reprioritise as
they adapt to slower economic growth and
accelerating technological change – and the
payments industry is no exception.
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