Put the technology you already have to new use, SWIFT advised the world. It had itself in mind.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has been watching the development of fintech carefully, with a focus on its own future. After a variety of projects using new technologies, the pillar of the current international payments system has thrown its weight behind a unified ledger payment model.
SWIFT looked in particular at tokenization and the shared ledger model, according to a post on its website. Common infrastructure could provide real-time balance to all of the participants in the shared ledger, it said. That’s not to say messaging is unneeded, SWIFT was quick to add:
“For transactions to be frictionless, additional types of data also need to be transferred to enable value-added services such as AML, compliance, sanctions screening, trade and accounts receivable reconciliation,” it continued.
