Swift Adding Blockchain-Based Shared Ledger to Infrastructure

Financial messaging network Swift is adding a blockchain-based shared ledger to its technological infrastructure.

The move is designed to make “instant, always-on cross-border transactions possible at unprecedented scale,” Swift said in a news release Monday (Sept. 29).

According to the release, Swift has already begun work with 30 financial institutions (FIs) around the world to develop the ledger, focusing on real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments and beginning with a conceptual prototype by Consensys.

Banks involved in the project include Banks involved in the program include J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Santander, Deutsche Bank and several others.

“The ledger will extend Swift’s financial communication role into a digital environment, facilitating banks’ trusted and scalable movement of regulated tokenised value across digital ecosystems,” the release added.

“Swift’s focus is on the infrastructure – the types of tokens that will be exchanged on the ledger is the territory of commercial and central banks, and Swift will work with them on how to complement and make use of this new infrastructure.”

The goal is for the ledger, which Swift describes as a “secure, real-time log” of transactions between FIs, to record, sequence and validate transactions and enforce rules using smart contracts. It will be designed for interoperability with existing and emerging networks, “while maintaining the trust, resilience and compliance synonymous with Swift,” the release added.

“We provide powerful and effective rails today and are moving at a rapid pace with our community to create the infrastructure stack of the future,” Swift CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso said when announcing the ledger at the organization’s annual conference Monday.

“Through this initial ledger concept we are paving the way for financial institutions to take the payments experience to the next level with Swift’s proven and trusted platform at the center of the industry’s digital transformation.”

The blockchain project comes days after Swift announced a new set of rules designed to provide faster cross-border payments for consumers and small businesses.

The rules, created in partnership with many of the same banks involved in the blockchain effort, will help retail customers have peace of mind when making international payments, said Swift.

“Recent upgrades have significantly improved the experience, enabling fully transparent transfers that exceed G20 targets, with 75% of payments reaching beneficiary banks within 10 minutes,” the organization said in a news release.