The initiative aims to tackle last-mile frictions in international retail payments, aligning with the G20’s 2027 roadmap for faster, cheaper and more predictable cross-border services.
Swift has unveiled a new initiative designed to give consumers and small businesses the same level of confidence and speed in cross-border transactions that they have come to expect domestically.
Announced today (September 25) the scheme brings together more than 30 early-adopter banks from 17 countries to establish a set of rules and standards for retail payments. Participating institutions will commit to upfront transparency on fees and foreign exchange, guaranteed full-value delivery, end-to-end visibility of transactions, and instant settlement where infrastructure allows.
“Swift has worked with its community over the past few years to significantly raise the bar on the cross-border payments experience. And now, together with the industry, we are bringing those same benefits to retail customers around the world,” said Thierry Chilosi, Swift’s Chief Business Officer.
The move marks an extension of Swift’s role in retail channels, building on the foundation of its Swift Go service. While the network is traditionally associated with wholesale transactions, recent upgrades mean that banks using Swift already exceed the G20’s 2027 targets for speed, with 75% of payments reaching destination banks within ten minutes.
“Improving customer experience in cross border payments is a clear priority for ANZ. Coordination across the financial system is essential in enabling us to deliver the predictability, transparency, and speed our customers expect,” said Eva Rubio Head of Global Transaction Banking, BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking.
“Swift’s proposed scheme leverages their track record of global network standardisation to drive a global uplift in capabilities. ANZ looks forward to this collaboration and the opportunity to help improve the clearing and cross border payments experience for our customers.
Tackling the last mile
Swift emphasised that the scheme is aligned with the G20 roadmap for cross-border payments, which seeks faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive services by 2027. The cooperative has focused its efforts on optimising the cross-border leg of transactions, but acknowledged that the “last mile” – the domestic leg that accounts for around 80% of total settlement time – remains the greatest source of friction.
“We are excited to join Swift’s new scheme, defining the next step in raising the industry’s global standards for fast and frictionless cross-border payments and this in full alignment with the G20 objectives,” said Pierre Fersztand, Global Head of Cash Management, Payments, Trade and Factoring at BNP Paribas.
“Our customers expect speed, security and predictability when sending money internationally – and this initiative improves on all three with immediate effect using the trusted and reliable Swift infrastructure. By collaborating with Swift and our peers, we are ensuring that our customers can send payments with great confidence.”
By formalising rules for transparency, delivery, and settlement, the scheme is designed not only to enhance the in-flight experience for customers but also to help banks and policymakers identify and resolve bottlenecks in local payment infrastructures and regulatory frameworks.
Scaling up retail payments
With access to more than 4 billion accounts across 220 countries and territories, Swift’s latest initiative promises global scale and consistency in retail payments. The commitment from early-adopter banks is expected to accelerate adoption and bring retail users into a payments experience that is faster, more predictable, and more transparent.
The scheme will be rolled out in stages, with mechanisms and governance rules developed in collaboration with industry participants. Swift said its long-term ambition is to ensure that retail customers worldwide enjoy the same predictability in cross-border payments as they do in domestic transfers.
