45 global banks team up with SWIFT to enhance cross-border payments transparency

Forty-five international banks have teamed up with SWIFT to launch the "Global Payments Innovation Initiative" which is aimed at providing a payment service with same-day use of funds, predictability of fees, end-to-end payment tracking and better payment information. It is hoped this scheme will make cross-border payments faster and more transparent. A pilot scheme of 20 banks initially will begin testing the new business rules and provide corporate treasury clients with an enhanced cross-border payments service.

Forty-five international banks have teamed up with the financial messaging provider Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to launch an initiative aimed at making cross-border payments faster and more transparent.

The Global Payments Innovation Initiative’s goal, according to the bank-owned SWIFT, is to provide a payment service with same-day use of funds, predictability of fees, end-to-end payment tracking and better payment information.

A pilot group of 20 banks will start testing the new business rules and provide corporate treasury clients with an enhanced cross-border payments service.

Banks involved in the initiative include such names as BBVA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of China, Banco Santander Totta, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase.

SWIFT plans to reveal the results of the pilot test at the SWIFT International Banking Operations Seminar (SIBOS) 2016 conference in Geneva in September, with the idea of implementing a more general adoption of the new business standards in 2017. Until then SWIFT has time to boost the number of participating banks.