Payment innovation

Swift and its community are demonstrating what’s possible using a flexible, interoperable and currency-agnostic network at scale—enabling cross-border payments of all kinds to arrive in seconds and putting international payments on a par with the best domestic experience.

Consumers in some of the world's busiest remittance corridors are already benefiting from faster, more transparent and more predictable international payments, enabled by Swift's new scheme framework for retail payments.

Nine months after Swift announced plans to add a blockchain-based ledger to its technology stack, here’s how the industry came together to make it happen.

Swift has successfully completed the design phase of its blockchain-based shared ledger, and is now actively building the first iteration that will enable interoperability between banks’ tokenised deposits to facilitate 24/7 cross-border payments.

Swift is introducing a blockchain-based ledger into its infrastructure—a major milestone aimed at enabling trusted movement of tokenized value across digital ecosystems and supporting 24/7 cross-border payments.

Rising customer expectations for instant, transparent international payments and regulatory pressure (e.g., G20 roadmap) are driving the need for a new scheme that ensures predictability and speed.

Michael Spiegel, Standard Chartered Bank and Thierry Chilosi, Swift - Future of cross-border transactions with Swift’s blockchain-based ledger

Manish Kohli, HSBC and Thierry Chilosi, Swift - Laying the foundations: Setting out the vision for Swift’s new ledger

During a Big Issue Debate at Sibos, Thierry Chilosi answer a key question on the ledger: why now?

Over 50 banks around the world have signed up to our payments scheme, designed to introduce a framework that will transform consumer payments. Here, we unpack progress already made in 2026.

At Swift, our mission has always been to continually innovate and elevate the cross-border payments experience. Today, we are taking a pivotal step forward: adding a blockchain-based shared ledger to our technology infrastructure.

At Swift, our priority is to make cross-border payments as fast and seamless as domestic ones. With our latest major initiative, we’re taking another bold step toward that goal – launching a new scheme to guarantee a consistently fast, predictable and transparent experience for retail customers worldwide.

Today, 75% of payments travelling over our network reach beneficiary banks within just 10 minutes. But more work is needed at the final stage of a payment’s journey—the last mile—to address friction that delays funds from being delivered to end beneficiaries.

At Swift, our mission has always been to continually innovate and elevate the cross-border payments experience. Today, we are taking a pivotal step forward: adding a blockchain-based shared ledger to our technology infrastructure.