The future of always-on payments
Customer expectations have changed: cross-border payments are expected to be as fast, transparent and predictable as domestic ones.
As the landscape evolves, global payments are becoming increasingly multi-asset, multi-network and always-on – with value moving across borders 24/7. Supporting this shift at scale requires infrastructure that can connect ecosystems, coordinate activity and preserve trust.
The Swift ledger is designed to support this next chapter. It’s a blockchain-based shared ledger with an initial focus on enabling coordinated, real-time, 24/7 cross-border interbank payments.
The future of always-on payments
Meeting evolving expectations in a more complex ecosystem
The future of finance is becoming more diverse. New forms of digital value and a growing range of networks are creating a more dynamic global payments landscape. This opens up new possibilities for how value moves across borders.
As this ecosystem grows, coordination becomes more important. Institutions need a way to connect across networks and align activity in real time, without fragmenting liquidity or compromising the trust that underpins global finance.
That’s why we’re working with the global financial community to create the Swift ledger – connecting the ecosystem and building the future of finance on trust.
How the Swift ledger supports always-on payments
The Swift ledger is a blockchain-based shared ledger that is being added to Swift’s technology infrastructure to support this evolution.
Built on distributed ledger technology (DLT), it’s designed to give participating institutions a shared, trusted view of interbank commitments, providing clarity on what banks owe each other and a clear picture of their funded payment commitments.
This shared view helps enable coordinated and transparent payment execution across emerging digital ecosystems, without fragmenting liquidity or compromising trust.
Developed in collaboration with over 40 financial institutions worldwide, the initial focus of the Swift ledger is to enable real-time, 24/7 cross-border interbank payments, supporting the next generation of digital finance.
Built on what works today
It’s not just speed – institutions need certainty, confidence and coordination when moving value across borders.
Building on the resilience, standards and reach that already underpin Swift’s network today, the Swift ledger is designed to deliver coordinated and transparent payment flows across networks. This helps unlock new opportunities across the global financial ecosystem.
The result is a step forward in cross-border payments: interoperable, compliant and built for the digital era.
What to take away from this episode
- The Swift ledger is designed to bring together an increasingly multi asset, multi network payments environment.
- It provides a shared, trusted view of interbank commitments, supporting real time, always on payment execution.
- It builds on existing foundations while helping enable the next generation of cross-border payments.
Building the digital payment stack of the future
We’re working with 40+ financial institutions to add a blockchain-based ledger to our infrastructure stack.