Overview

If you are looking to exchange retail payments, such as salaries, pensions, bills, and collections, with correspondent banks, corporates or retail payment market infrastructures such as Automated Clearing Houses – ACHs, retail payment systems, or Giro networks, SWIFT provides a cost efficient file transfer capability.

Using SWIFT, you can enjoy the following benefits:

• Reduced costs: SWIFT’s single platform allows you to save costs on maintaining a multitude of different communications systems and methods;
• Increased automation and straight-through processing: SWIFT’s flexible solution allows you to use domestic or international standards like UNIFI ISO 20022. Specific header fields allow you to automatically route and copy files to the appropriate processing environment;
• Improved security and reliability SWIFT provides a highly secure and reliable messaging platform.

SWIFT was developed for the exchange of critical payments (you can reach over 60 high value clearing systems). You can also use SWIFT for bilateral file exchange with thousands of correspondent banks and hundreds of corporates or connect to over 19 retail value payments systems. VocaLink and Seceti are two examples of ACHs you can reach via SWIFT.

Besides FIN messaging for payments and cash management, SWIFT offers a file transfer service (FileAct) that provides a cost efficient, secure and reliable file transfer capability in real-time or in store and forward mode. A number of additional messaging features are available, like copy information to a third-party, non-repudiation, delivery notification and urgent priority.

In addition, SWIFT’s Bulk Payment solution, based on FileAct messaging, provides a common market practices rulebook to standardise retail payments exchange in your community and across communities. Both services support market practice and harmonisation initiatives in the retail payments area such as SEPA launched by European Payments Council (EPC).

Besides the basic messaging services, SWIFT provides a set of standards for payments and cash management and reference data directories to facilitate end-to-end interoperability and automate retail payments processing.

For further details please contact your Regional Account Manager or send an e-mail to swiftforbanks@swift.com.