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It’s about the numbers
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14 September 2009
Yawar Shah, Chairman, SWIFT, told delegates attending the SWIFT plenary that since last year’s event in Vienna, he has observed several “different worlds”. Banks, he said, have undergone a year of traumatic change. “Life as a banker has been tough,” he admitted.
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Yawar Shah, Chairman, SWIFT |
Over the same period, however, SWIFT itself “continued to operate safely, securely and reliably in the eye of the storm,” said Shah. The financials of the cooperative remain sound. “SWIFT is not without its challenges,” said Shah, but he reassured delegates that the commitment made to stands.
One impact of the crisis is a heightened sensitivity to risk. SWIFT can play a mitigating role for its community in that regard, suggested Shah. Its resilient messaging platform has long helped reduce operational risk, but SWIFT can also contribute to addressing counterparty, settlement and liquidity risk, as well as in areas of the industry, notably securities, where fax and other non-digital means still play too big a role.
“We need to think broadly and deeply about future opportunities and decide either to do them well or not to do them at all.”
Yawar Shah, Chairman, SWIFT |
What next for SWIFT?
Shah posed three questions for the community to grapple with over the Sibos week and beyond: “Why don’t we move traffic from more costly networks on to SWIFT?” he asked. At the same time, he insisted, “We need to think broadly and deeply about future opportunities and decide either to do them well or not to do them at all.” Thirdly, said Shah, while many customers would like SWIFT “at the table” as they look to their own plans for the future, the ‘terms of engagement’ are still to be addressed.
Shah traditionally issues a call to action to the community during the Sibos week and he did not disappoint. “I urge you to think hard about the role you expect SWIFT to play in your institution in the future,” he said. “Where can it take away inefficiency and pain? What more do you want it to do? And conversely, what do you want it to stop doing, or do differently?”
Lean@SWIFT
Lázaro Campos, CEO, SWIFT |
Picking up on Shah’s comments on the impact of the crisis, Lázaro Campos, CEO, SWIFT, retold the aftermath of Lehman’s collapse from a SWIFT perspective. “What is clear is that SWIFT traffic is a good proxy for economic and financial activity,” he said, “and we are looking at ways in which we can identify ‘early signs’ and ‘predict’ more accurately what the future holds.” A number of sessions are planned for the week examining the parallels between economic indicators and SWIFT traffic.
Campos presented the essence of SWIFT’s strategy to relate its ongoing costs to the demands of its customers. “We’ve launched a significant business efficiency programme that puts customers at the centre, helps us reduce our structural costs in the short term and ensures continuous improvement and a ‘customer first’ mindset in the long term.”
“If we are to grow beyond messaging, we have to change now.”
Lázaro Campos, CEO, SWIFT |
The programme called Lean@SWIFT aims for an efficiency increase of 30%. Twenty percent will translate into structural cost reductions, said Campos, while the remaining 10% “will fund our future.” Clearly, despite the multiple uncertainties of the present economic climate, SWIFT sees little benefit for its community in standing still.
“If we are to grow beyond messaging, we have to change now,” said Campos. “That change is enabled by Lean and by a desire to embrace innovation and collaboration.” SWIFT is seeking new ways of collaboration that encourage greater customer centricity, as exemplified by Innotribe at this year’s Sibos. “Essentially, it enables a different culture to thrive in the community – one of willingness to experiment, openness to contribute and a belief in sharing the rewards of collaboration,” he commented.
SWIFT2015
In that context, Campos offered a few pointers to SWIFT2015, the cooperative’s new five year strategy that is in the early stages of development. “This will be a consultative and iterative process and what better place than Sibos to do some of that consultation,” said Campos.
Some guiding questions that SWIFT will be addressing, says Campos, include the extent to which the cooperative should ‘Go local’, increasing its relevance in a domestic context, and whether it should provide certain shared services, but also help orchestrate their delivery by members and partners. “We still have many other unanswered questions that are relevant to every scenario,” said Campos. “Of course, we will keep asking you for your input and counsel – that’s our commitment and our responsibility. Your responsibility is to join the debate, help advance the dialogue and make sure your views are heard – that’s why our time here together at Sibos is so valuable.”
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