SWIFT Unveils Blockchain Ledger: 30+ Global Banks Back Push for 24/7 Cross-Border Payments

Payments giant SWIFT is developing a blockchain-based ledger with 30+ top banks and Consensys, aiming to enable 24/7 cross-border payments.

SWIFT Is Working With 30+ Global Financial Institutions On A Blockchain Ledger

As revealed in a press release, SWIFT is planning to add a blockchain-based ledger to its infrastructure stack, in collaboration with a group of more than 30 major financial institutions. SWIFT, short for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a Belgium-based cooperative that connects banks around the world with a secure messaging network for initiating international payments.

SWIFT covers more than 11,500 institutions across over 220 countries and territories, and facilitates an estimated $150 trillion in cross-border transactions every year. The payments messaging giant is now taking its infrastructure a step further with the integration of a ledger system based on the blockchain, the same underlying technology that powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

The goal behind the system is to provide real-time 24/7 cross-border payments. The press release noted that SWIFT has already begun working with major global banks to design and build the ledger, starting with a conceptual prototype by Consensys. Consensys, a blockchain software company founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, is best known as the developer of Metamask and a contributor to major ETH network upgrades.

SWIFT CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso said:

Through this initial ledger concept we are paving the way for financial institutions to take the payments experience to the next level with Swift’s proven and trusted platform at the centre of the industry’s digital transformation.

Currently, banks from 16 countries are providing feedback on the ledger system. Following successful development, SWIFT plans to work with its global community on implementation. Among the major institutions already on board are several Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs), including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup.

Gayathri Vasudev, Global Head of Core Payment Rails at JP Morgan, the bank considered the most critical to global economic stability by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), said:

We look forward to engaging with this coalition to help evaluate a shared ledger designed for the next generation of global payments, leveraging our expertise to help advance instant, secure and efficient cross-border payments.

According to the press release, SWIFT will also add interoperability capabilities, allowing banks to seamlessly move between existing fiat rails and emerging systems.

The payments messaging platform added:

These developments are part of Swift’s overall strategy to power a best-in-class payments experience however value moves, with parallel tracks of innovation to upgrade the experience over existing ‘fiat’ rails, as well as to ready the industry for digital finance.

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