SWIFT Intros Fast Cross-Border Payment Service

Belgium-based financial messaging services company SWIFT on Tuesday (July 27) announced the launch of SWIFT Go, a service that transmits instant cross-border payments anywhere in the world from a user’s bank account. So far, seven global banks which handle a combined 33 million cross-border transactions annually are live with the service, according to the company.

Leading up to the release of SWIFT GO, PYMNTS reported earlier this month that the company rolled out a service that allows banks to check a beneficiary’s account information prior to payment. The move was aimed at furthering the company’s mission of offering “instant and frictionless transactions” globally, the company said. Most cross-border transactions are handled without issue. However, inaccurate recipient data is among the top reasons that cross-border payments take longer to process or aren’t successful. Mistakes can include incorrect account numbers or names spelled incorrectly.

SWIFT had received high marks from six international banks related to its new transaction management platform, PYMNTS reported in June. The system is expected to launch in November 2022 and already has support from Citi, Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered and Bank of China.

With SWIFT Go, banks can offer simple payments experience for transactions typically made by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to pay overseas suppliers and customers sending funds to friends and family internationally. The service includes pre-validation of data and enables financial institutions the ability to share processing times and costs with customers ahead of time. The following global banks are now using SWIFT Go: BBVA, Bank of New York Mellon, DNB, MYBank, Sberbank, Société Générale and UniCredit.

“SWIFT Go is a further step towards achieving our vision of enabling anybody, anywhere, to send money instantly and securely around the world,” SWIFT Chief Product Officer Stephen Gilderdale said in the announcement. “Our new service will allow banks to compete effectively in one of the fastest-growing segments of the payments market, delivering a seamless experience for their customers.”