SWIFT: A Race to New Markets

The Society for Worldwide Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has been a major force in the global banking industry since the 1970’s. The organization is now leveraging that reputation to expand into other areas of financial services.

In a new report entitled “SWIFT: A Race to New Markets,” Celent Communications looks closely at the development of the SWIFT organization and its future plans. SWIFT was founded in 1973 and, upon its launch in 1977, quickly became a major part of the worldwide banking system. This system connects approximately 7,200 institutions in 192 countries, supporting over 240 message standards for payments, securities, treasury, derivatives and other trade services. It is estimated that the average daily value of payments messages on the SWIFT network exceeds US$5 trillion.

“SWIFTNet holds a great deal of promise, and is the future direction of the SWIFT organization,” according to Fritz McCormick, author of the report. He adds, “Celent believes that SWIFT, leveraging its massive reputation in the industry, is not likely to lose volume while migrating to the new network; its users will continue with SWIFTNet. The real question is how the new service will affect SWIFT’s attempts to pull in additional securities-based volume.”

SWIFT’s work in standards is pressing forward at the same time. The organization’s integration with the FIX Protocol Limited organization will enable it to greatly spread its influence into the securities markets. Work on the ISO 15022 standard will further this influence by creating a strong front-to-back-office messaging link for firms, helping to make STP a reality.