Swift banks back scheme for faster cross-border pay

Swift has secured support from more than 50 banks for a new payments scheme that sets common rules for cross-border retail transfers. An initial group plans to start processing payments under the framework by June.

The initiative targets international account-to-account payments by consumers and small businesses. Swift says it will provide clearer fees, full-value delivery, and end-to-end tracking, with faster settlement where local infrastructure allows.

More than 25 banks have committed to process payments using the framework by June, covering corridors linked to Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, India, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand, the UK and the US. Several are among the world's largest remittance recipients, including Bangladesh, China, Germany, India and Pakistan.

Remittance focus

Consumers and smaller firms in the early corridors will be among the first to see changes to the cross-border payment experience. Swift positioned the work as part of broader industry efforts to improve the speed, cost and transparency of international payments.

The scheme aligns with the G20 cross-border payments roadmap, which sets targets for 2027. Those targets cover transaction speed, cost, transparency, choice and access.

Swift also pointed to progress on speed, saying 75% of transactions on its network already reach the destination bank within 10 minutes.

Last-mile delays

Inconsistency remains a problem, particularly after a payment reaches the recipient's bank. Swift describes the "last mile" as the period between arrival at the beneficiary financial institution and credit to the end customer account.

Swift says 80% of a transaction's average journey occurs in that final stage. It links delays to domestic regulation, local market practices, and bank and market infrastructure. The framework is intended to improve this domestic portion of the payment journey.

"The financial community has made strong collective progress to improve the speed and transparency of cross-border payments, but there is room to go further," said Nasir Ahmed, Swift's Head of Payments Scheme.

"Everyone should be able to transact internationally at pace, safe in the knowledge that the full value will arrive with the recipient and that the fees will be affordable and fixed from the start. That is what our community is enabling with this initiative. We're committed to giving everyone the same first-class cross-border payments experience across all markets and all regulated forms of value - whenever, wherever and with full transparency - and we're pleased to see the global banking community making this possible for their end customers," Ahmed added.

Bank participation

Swift listed more than 50 banks as supporters of the framework, while noting that adoption timelines vary by institution. Participants span major banking groups in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America.

The list includes ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank and Westpac, alongside global and regional players such as Bank of America, Citi, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, Santander and UBS. It also includes institutions in key remittance and trade corridors such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India, as well as Bank of China and ICBC.

Several banks framed the move as part of shifting customer expectations around speed and predictability. "ANZ is pleased to be a key participant in the rollout of Swift's new payments framework, enabling more predictable, transparent and increasingly frictionless cross-border transactions across an initial set of corridors, including Australia, China, India, Spain, the UK and the US," said Hagan Shakespeare, ANZ's Head of Global Clearing Services.

Lloyds Bank described improved cross-border payments as a broader economic issue. "Efficient cross-border payments are a critical enabler of trade, growth and everyday economic activity for businesses and consumers alike," said Kim Verhaaf, Lloyds Bank Managing Director for Payments.

Ledger project

Swift said the payments scheme is part of a "parallel track" strategy. The second track involves adding a blockchain-based shared ledger to its infrastructure, with an initial focus on 24/7, real-time cross-border payments.

Swift said the shared ledger will support tokenised value as well as traditional payment flows, operating across its network of 11,500 banks and financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories.

Industry participants also linked the initiative to always-on payments. "Clients expect instant, 24/7 cross-border payments and thanks to advancements in technology, market infrastructure, and data, the industry has come a long way in meeting that demand," said Danielle Sharpe, Standard Chartered's Global Head of Financial Institutions Clearing.

Swift expects additional payment routes to be activated after the initial markets, extending the framework across more cross-border retail corridors.