SWIFT and the International Real-Time Payments Race: The Cross Border Service Battle Wages On
Leading payments platform Swift on July 16 announced its plan to dominate the international payment sector, the plan was revealed in a press release , which was readily available on the firm’s website.
The ‘Payment’ Struggle
The new drive and enthusiasm by swift is a direct reaction to the “One Currency To Rule Them All” initiative by Facebook, which according to a Forbes report is causing an uproar among both the traditional financial sector and the cryptocurrency industry, without sparing governments and regulatory agencies.
The introduction of the Libra project by Facebook has taken virtually every major player in the sector back to the drawing board, and Swift is not exempted. According to the Press release:
‘’ Swift’s aim is simple: to make cross-border payments real-time 24/7 and as seamless, convenient, cost-efficient and accessible as domestic payments.
With the projected potential of Libra, and the publicity power it possesses through social media applications like Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, financial institutions and international payment platforms all over the world, may find it hard to keep up, and as such, must find a way to step up their game before Libra gain more prominence.
A Swift Cryptocurrency in View?
Some analysts are thus of the opinion that Swift might also launch its own cryptocurrency, to tackle the Libra coin, but others are of the opinion that a Swift coin will do nothing but add to what the company sees as the real problem of international payments, namely the proliferation of self-contained currency systems such as Bitcoin, JPM Coin and others.
Swift is thus antagonizing those who favour multiple competing tokens for international payments, the payment platform points out that each token ultimately serves its own community, but that there is still a need for an interoperability protocol that enables people to transfer value across different currencies and tokens, and that loophole is what Swift plans to exploit.
The payment platform also has a word or two for the banking industry. Swift advised the banks that if it is still interested in keeping its customer base, it can’t continue to do the same thing and expect it will survive.
It is also of the opinion that most customers are tired of the old way, and that if the banks do not step up and move with the tide, it will not only lose customers but die because it won’t be able to keep up.
The Swift platform is not one that is scared of healthy competition from rivals, Bitcoin Exchange Guide reported that Swift announced the launch of the trial of distributed ledger technology integration with R3.
The established payment platform stated that the new development will allow it to monitor payment flows and support APIs using the SWIFT and ISO standards.
The idea at inception was to link the GPI Link and Corda to authorize payments via the two sides. GPI payment will then be settled by banks and the credit confirmations will be sent.
The struggle to determine the leading payment solution will continue to generate a lot of attention, as virtually everybody is up in arms against Libra.
