- A few weeks ago, SWIFT announced the launch of NPP’s initial trial through the help of banks from Australia, China, Singapore and Thailand
- Following the buzz about the payments system, SWIFT execs note that their gpi will be used by 10,000 banks by 2020
- Over 30% of SWIFT’s payments services now go through gpi
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications’ (SWIFT) Asia Pacific Head of Payments Markets Michael Moon announced that the company has started its New Payments Platform (NPP) trials last month, but following the buzz created by the press release, fintech observers are now focusing on the network’s and NPP’s gpi Tracker.
Tracker standardisation
During an interview with Enterprise Innovation, Moon pointed out that apart from faster payment transactions, tracking said transactions is just as important. Moon said: “SWIFT targets to make unique identifiers available for payment tracking by November this year while in 2020 SWIFT member banks will need to send confirmations when they complete processing a payment.”
In March 2018, the network informed concerned parties about the integration of its gpi Tracker, a move that will allow SWIFT member banks to track payments. According to experts, this will also make it possible for customers to track payments, at least in theory. However, it is noted by SWIFT that it is the banks’ decision whether to provide such access or not.
According to an interview on Tuesday, SWIFT execs said that gpi will be the standard messaging service for banks for international payment transfers noting that SWIFT’s 10,000 bank members will be using the tracker by the end of 2020. As of September 2018, 30% of SWIFT services are now sent on gpi. Moon added that over 200 banks from around the world have already applied for the service.
Not without challenges
Although news regarding the tracker has excited many financial institutions, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas noted at a conference in Berlin, work on a European payment system has already started and it is set to challenge SWIFT. SWIFT is described by the government official as the “dominant” player in cross-border payments.
Trial updates
Banks from Australia, Thailand, China and Singapore joined the tests, reports say, and this includes the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the National Australia Bank, ANZ, Bank of China, Bangkok Bank, China Construction Bank, ICBC, KASIKORNBANK, DBS, Standard Chartered Bank, United Overseas Bank and Siam Commercial Bank.
Developed by SWIFT, NPP is “designed to support an economy that never sleeps, never tires and never slows”. The industry-wide payments platform went live in February 2018. According to SWIFT representatives, the trial concentrated on cross-border payments going to Australia and that other real-time systems will be added later on. SWIFT is still waiting for the results and will likely announce its findings at Sibos this October. Eddie Haddad of SWIFT Asia Pacific told reporters that their gpi plays a critical role in delivering instant payments. According to GTR, the tracker is being used for daily transactions that amount to $100 billion.
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