SWIFT Launches AI Tool to Predict Cross-Border Payment Problems

Financial messaging services provider SWIFT is introducing a new predictive data intelligence capability that determines potential problems with cross-border transactions before payments are sent.

Using its global intelligence on past cross-border flows, the new capability is part of SWIFT’s strategy to remove friction while advancing real-time international payments, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS on Wednesday (Aug. 31).

The new tool pinpoints accounts credited successfully in the past on the SWIFT network and uses the data to spot possible mistakes in payee information, which is the most common reason for holdups in cross-border transactions. An expanded feature of SWIFT’s Payment Pre-validation service, this latest solution is available to banks via an application programming interface (API).

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With centralized verification using aggregated and anonymized data from 9 billion transaction messages between 4 billion accounts each year, SWIFT’s tool offers insights that a single bank can’t provide, according to the release. The solution offers a level of real-time assurance about the likelihood that funds will go through even if the financial institutions or parties never transacted with one another prior.

“Think of it as the ultimate payment pre-check,” said SWIFT Chief Innovation Officer Thomas Zschach. “When someone wants to make an international payment, we can instantly predict the likelihood of success based on whether the account has been credited successfully in the past, and then present this information directly to the customer so that they can fix any errors or typos before the payment even starts its processing.”  

Read more: SWIFT to Test CBDC Ability to Facilitate Cross-Border Payments

SWIFT is also working on growing its capabilities in low-value payments through SWIFT Go and is collaborating with others in the industry to research potential uses of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), tokenization and artificial intelligence (AI).

“SWIFT’s Payment Pre-validation service has enabled us to identify issues with account information before a payment is processed. Building on this service will further empower us to better serve our customers, rather than dealing with breaks in automation. Extending this service across more accounts on the SWIFT network will bring the industry real cost-savings and efficiency gains,” said Arturo Rivera Fermoso, director general adjunto de tecnología, Banca Mifel.