(9 March 2018 – Global) After testing blockchain technology on its interbank messaging service, Swift has concluded more progress on the technology is needed before it can be utilised for daily cross-border payments between the world’s banks.
Swift’s finding that the distributed ledger technology is not ready for mainstream use aligns with many other top banks and regulators who voiced similar conclusions.
Despite the proof of concept test going “extremely well” Swift noted that “further progress is needed” on the technology “before it will be ready to support production-grade applications in large-scale, mission-critical global infrastructures”.
Swift also highlighted that many lenders would have to significantly update their operations and systems before being able to use a blockchain-based system to handle their cross-border payments.
The proof of concept test emphasises how much pressure established financial institutions are under from more technology-savvy and agile challengers who are quickly developing distributed ledger networks and products.