Swift is collaborating with 30 banks to establish new rules for retail cross-border payments on its network.
The initiative aims to ensure complete predictability regarding pricing and speed for retail transactions, eliminating hidden fees, guaranteeing full value transfers, and enabling instant settlements where domestic infrastructure permits.
The bank-to-bank messaging network states that participating banks will leverage advanced features on the Swift platform, typically used for wholesale payments, to improve cross-border retail payments across four billion accounts in over 200 countries.
Thierry Chilosi, Swift’s chief business officer, emphasized, “Swift has collaborated with its community in recent years to enhance the cross-border payments experience. Now, through industry collaboration, we are extending these benefits to retail customers globally. This new scheme will guarantee that consumers and small businesses enjoy fast and predictable international payments, whether sending money to family abroad or settling with overseas suppliers.”
Currently, 75% of payments processed via the Swift network reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes. A recent report highlights that the Swift cross-border leg represents only 20% of the total time for an average cross-border transaction. The remaining 80% is spent during the last mile, once the payment exits the Swift network, due to factors such as domestic regulations, banking infrastructure, and local market practices.
Chilosi further stated, “At Swift, our commitment to being an open network drives our efforts to enhance the end customer experience across the ecosystem. This includes partnering with policymakers to identify and resolve frictions that affect payment flows, regardless of how value is transferred, while also paving the way for next-generation payment solutions.”