SWIFT may be dealing with damage control in Bangladesh after reports emerged that cyberthieves likely hacked into the global financial platform’s software to steal $81 million from the central bank, but the situation hasn’t stopped SWIFT from boosting its presence across Asia.
An announcement on Wednesday (May 4) said SWIFT’s enterprise platform now has 29 new corporate members across the Asia-Pacific region. The additions were made to SWIFT’s B2B solution, SWIFT for Corporates, that provides an online platform to connect corporations and banks, streamlining financial information across borders.
The platform is separate from its software, which was reportedly compromised by hackers earlier this year, as well as from its core bank messaging service.
SWIFT said that the latest additions to its business platform brings the number of companies on the portal up to 1,500 across the globe. The company also noted that the number of new businesses joining the platform increased by 50 percent in the region during the second half of 2015, compared to the first half of the year.
The firm added that Asia-Pacific is now its fastest-growing market for its corporate service.
The new corporates joining the service hail from China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Korea, reports said.
“I am pleased to welcome more corporate groups to join SWIFT,” said SWIFT Managing Director of Asia-Pacific Eddie Haddad. “We have been working very hard to assist corporates of all sizes to reduce costs, manage risks, whilst increasing operational efficiency and visibility in all of their treasury operations.”
“With this new wave of corporate groups joining us, the benefits are clearly pervasive across treasury professionals, and we are glad this offering is permeating across all segments in Asia-Pacific,” the executive continued.
Regarding the alleged software compromise in Bangladesh, SWIFT soon after issued a mandatory software update to safeguard the tool. Some analysts believe the hackers will likely use the same tactic to target other banks across the globe, however.
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