SWIFT settles cross-border payment in 13 seconds in a global trial
Interbank messaging giant SWIFT has settled a cross-border payment, from Australia into Singapore, in just 13 seconds in a global trial.
The trial integrated SWIFT's payments standard, Global Payments Innovation (GPI) Instant, into Singapore's domestic instant payment service Fast And Secure Transfers (FAST), the company announced late last week.
Over ten banks participated in the trial, including ANZ, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Royal Bank of Canada. While the payment from Australia into Singapore processed in 13 seconds, all other global payments in the trial were settled "end-to-end" within 25 seconds, per the announcement.
"With Instant service, cross-border payments can be received outside of normal business hours, which help our corporate clients improve working capital management and deliver a better banking experience," said Shirish Wadivkar, global head of correspondent banking products at Standard Chartered Bank.
Earlier this year, SWIFT experimented with blockchain technology but found that it is "quite challenging" for banks to adopt a blockchain-based system today for payments.
