(26 May 2017 – Global) SWIFT has announced that 24 banks in Asia Pacific, part of over 70 leading banks globally, are live or planning to implement SWIFT gpi.
These banks are members of an initiative that now includes over 110 banks globally. The SWIFT gpi initiative that launched in December 2015 went live with transactions in January 2017.
According to the firm, the initiative “transforms corporates’ cross-border payments experience by bringing together same day payment, transparency of fees and real-time tracking.”
The technology is based on the existing SWIFT rails trusted by the industry for over 40 years. SWIFT gpi introduces a new set of business rules and further technical innovation to reduce the friction that existed in cross-border payments and bring more transparency to improve the supply chain for corporates.
Banks in the region have been showing strong interest in this new generation cross-border payments service. Many corridors live on SWIFT gpi cover Asia Pacific and the China-US corridor is currently the largest globally.
Michael Moon, Head of Payments, Asia Pacific at SWIFT said: “SWIFT gpi is the biggest thing happening to cross-border payments in 30 years. In a deeply connected world, massive trading blocs such as China, India and ASEAN require faster, transparent and traceable payment services to support their trade and supply chains. SWIFT gpi creates a whole new world for corporate payments by reducing business process friction and providing new innovative services”.
The full list of participating regional banks includes: Agricultural Bank of China, ANZ Group, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Citic Bank, China Construction Bank, China Minsheng Banking Corporation, CBA, DBS Bank, Guangfa Bank, ICBC, Industrial Bank, KEB Hana Bank, Mizuho Bank, NAB, OCBC, Ping An Bank, Postal Savings Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, SMBC, Westpac and Zhejiang Rural Credit Cooperative Union.