- The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates will work alongside well-known financial messaging service SWIFT to improve both the transparency and speed of payments made.
- The move will give the Central Bank the distinction of being the first one in the world to strike up such a pairing with SWIFT, reports say.
- Leaders at both organisations were positive about the collaboration and pointed out the benefits – including better interoperability, customer experience, and much more.
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has announced that it will work alongside financial messaging service SWIFT as part of a drive to improve international money transfers.
The two organisations have committed to providing customers and institutions with faster and more transparent payments, they said.
In practice, the pact will see the Central Bank’s UAE Funds Transfer System (UAEFTS) for domestic payments get linked up with the ‘gpi Tracker’ function offered by SWIFT.
This will mean that banks and other organisations in the field that make payments internationally can experience certain added benefits, such as better integration and more certainty around timings.
According to a press release from the company, this will mean that banks can “track their payment flows end-to-end in real-time”.
It will also mean that the Central Bank’s recordkeeping functions will communicate easily with SWIFT.
“UAEFTS will update the SWIFT’s Tracker tool on behalf of its participants, both when a cross-border payment enters UAEFTS and when the funds are credited to the account of the final beneficiary in the UAE,” the statement said.
The move marks a significant moment in the history of online money transfers.
It marks the first time that a central bank has managed to secure such an agreement with SWIFT.
In a statement, Dr. Sabri Al Azazi, the chief operating officer of the Central Bank, said that the move had “delighted” the bank – and that it would have positive consequences when it comes to “interoperability” for global payments.
He also said that the move would increase the appeal of the financial markets in the UAE.
“We are delighted to launch this initiative as it further enhances the attractiveness of the UAE financial market, strengthens the interoperability between international and domestic payment systems and increases transparency to offer best-in-class customer service,” he argued.
For SWIFT, David Watson, the chief strategy officer, said that banks and similar organisations that send cash to the UAE would have a better experience now that this service had been launched.
He explained that the organisation would take the same approach to other destinations around the world as time went on.
“The implementation of this project will improve the experience of financial institutions and their customers that send payments to the UAE from across the globe,” he said.
“It is also the first one of its kind and we look forward to bringing this concept to other markets.”
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