BBVA Participates In Pilot For Instant Payments In Britain

BBVA participated in an experimental payment effort to connect the SWIFT gpi with Britain’s countrywide instant payment infrastructure, and the results were shown at the Sibos conference, according to a Thursday (Oct. 15) announcement.

The BBVA Group took part in the test along with five financial institutions (FIs) in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. The aim was to pilot the connection of SWIFT gpi with The Faster Payments Scheme (FPS), according to the announcement.

“With the integration of SWIFT with the Faster Payment chamber, we are going to further enhance customer experience, adding real-time processing of payments in British pounds to the benefits gpi already offers, tracking from start to finish and transparent costs,” said Raouf Soussi, the head of Corporate Payment Strategy at BBVA, in the announcement.

The experimental effort was successful and exhibited the international potential to take away time zone limitations that won’t hamper payment processing anymore. It also showed that the connection of SWIFT gpi with immediate payment infrastructures can be expanded internationally.

The experimental effort is “of the same nature” to the one shown at last year’s iteration of Sibos, which sought to experiment with the feasibility of moving funds to any nation in seconds, according to the announcement.

The results had indicated that transfer times could be decreased to a greater extent in SWIFT gpi international transfers by linking the network with instant payment systems in place in various nations.

In separate news, SWIFT unveiled a new offering earlier this month that vows to bolster the experience for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and individuals who send low-value payments internationally.

The cooperative said the program will let customers make quicker, simpler, predictable and competitively priced payments globally.

It is working with over 20 banks to build out the service, which expands upon SWIFT gpi and the high-speed rails that are already fueling high-value payments.

At the time, SWIFT indicated that the newest improvement is an additional building block for its new roadmap.