Swift GPI traffic soars to $77 trillion in 2019

Nearly $77 trillion in cross-border payments were transferred via Swift GPI in 2019, almost doubling the $40 trillion sent by Swift members in 2018.

Alongside a surge in traffic growth, the proportion of intergroup payments sent via gpi also grew to 65%, whilst the number of live country corridors almost doubled to 1,939.

Swift GPI in 2019 - the numbers in full:

• Nearly $77 trillion transferred through cross-border and intergroup payments over Swift GPI in 2019
• 65% of cross-border and intergroup payments sent using gpi
• 1,939 country corridors – almost double the number at the end of 2018
• Over 50% of Swift GPI payments credited to end beneficiaries within 30 minutes
• 3,900+ members

Over the past year, our community has increasingly recognised the dramatically improved speed, certainty and overall cross-border experience gpi delivers and so we have seen a significant uptick in adoption, value transferred and the number of live corridors.

What lies ahead?

Momentum for gpi continues to grow at a rapid pace. 2020 promises even more, with a number of key milestones to help deliver more and greater value to the Swift community.

Payments in an instant

Payments on Swift GPI are fast: for over 50% of payments, funds are credited to the end beneficiary within 30 minutes, many happen in seconds.

Throughout 2020, we’ll continue to make payments even faster, by building on successful trials that combine the power of gpi with domestic real-time payments systems.

Carlo Palmers said: “By combining gpi and domestic real-time payments networks, Swift is facilitating instant international payments with fee and foreign exchange transparency.

“The technology is in place, it is proven and is paving the way for reliable, real-time, round-the-clock cross-border payments.”

Bringing the benefits of end-to-end tracking to all

We’re also continuing in our mission to bring the benefits of gpi – speed, transparency and end-to-end tracking – to as many Swift members as possible.

A key part of this is enabling what we call universal confirmations. By the end of 2020, every cross-border payment (MT 103) on Swift will come with final confirmation that the funds have been credited to the end beneficiary, regardless of whether or not it’s been sent on gpi.

By unlocking this new level of transparency on all cross-border payments, we’re helping the community reduce costs and deliver a transformed experience for their customers.

Continuing to reduce friction

As well as making payments faster, in 2020 we’ll continue to make them smoother. A new pre-validation service based on gpi rails will allow financial institutions to confirm that beneficiary account details are correct before sending the payment, preventing frustrating bottlenecks and failed transfers.

And our case resolution service will enable the smooth and automated resolution of transactions when there is a problem with a payment, reducing the need for manual intervention, cutting costs and improving the customer experience.

Extending the value of gpi to new segments

We’re also continuing to deliver the benefits of gpi to new segments. For end customers, such as corporates and SMEs, we’re supporting new levels of transparency and tracking capabilities, to deliver a completely transformed user experience.

What’s more, for firms operating in the capital markets and financial institutions settling cash movements, we’re enabling new efficiencies courtesy of improved transparency through access to the Tracker.