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.

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"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.

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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.