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Swift blockchain ledger has already run real transactions; research is also underway on cross-border remittances using mobile phone numbers
On September 28, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced at the opening day of Sibos, the annual financial industry meeting held in Miami, that among the first 17 banks using its blockchain ledger, most have already used it for around-the-clock, real-time cross-border payments. The tokenized funds are being transmitted between Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. On the same day, SWIFT also announced collaborations with domestic real-time payment systems such as Spain’s Bizum, Australia’s PayID, and Brazil’s Pix, exploring how cross-border remittances can be completed using only a mobile phone number or email address. In its opening remarks, SWIFT CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso said: “The issue is no longer whether traditional finance or decentralized finance wins, or a choice between the two. The SWIFT platform lets you move any form of regulated value at global scale—whether it’s fiat currency or tokenized assets.” Blockchain ledger completed transactions in five currencies According to SWIFT, these banks have completed transactions using five currencies: euros, British pounds, Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars, and U.S. dollars. Use cases include settlement between financial institutions, corporate treasury management, and interbank capital routing. SWIFT announced on July 9 that the ledger could begin to be used, when 17 banks from six continents were preparing for a pilot. Previously reported, the ledger is built on Ethereum Layer 2 network Linea. The first batch of banks includes Citigroup, DBS, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and others. In September, DBS and Citigroup also completed their first weekend cross-border U.S. dollar transfers through it. SWIFT said the first phase intentionally focuses on around-the-clock real-time payments, using tokenized deposits—i.e., a digital form of commercial bank money that participating banks are already familiar with. The ledger is designed to be interoperable, and in the future it will expand according to market needs into areas such as programmable money and AI agent commerce, allowing traditional assets and digital assets to coexist globally. Cross-border remittances aim to work like domestic transfers—using only a mobile phone number In another collaboration aimed at everyday consumers, SWIFT noted that millions of people are already accustomed to making fast domestic transfers using Bizum, PayID, and Pix without needing to know the other party’s account details. This time, SWIFT brings together banks, payment providers, and technology companies across four continents to enable the mobile numbers, email addresses, and virtual payment addresses that are already registered in domestic systems to be used safely for cross-border transactions on SWIFT. Participants include Australia’s payment organization AP+, Spain’s external bank BBVA, Bizum, Brazil’s Bradesco, Australia’s Commonwealth Bank, DBS, India’s IDFC FIRST Bank, Brazil’s Ouribank, and TerraPay, among others. Bizum calls the plan a proof of concept for SWIFT, while Brazil’s Ouribank said it is helping connect Brazil’s Pix ecosystem to SWIFT’s global network. 75% of cross-border payments arrive at the receiving bank within 10 minutes—stuck in the “last mile” This so-called transfer initiative is built on the consumer payment framework launched by SWIFT in June. More than 100 banks have already joined, enabling remittances to arrive in full and with fees and exchange rates confirmed in advance. SWIFT gave examples: using this framework, a transfer from Turkey to Spain takes just 15 seconds; from Australia to India takes 37 seconds; and from Brazil to the United States takes about one minute. SWIFT said that currently, 75% of cross-border payments reach the receiving bank within 10 minutes, but about 80% of a transaction’s time is spent in the “last mile”—the period between when the funds leave the SWIFT network, enter the recipient country’s domestic bank, and are credited to the customer. SWIFT currently connects 12,500 institutions across 200 markets and 150 currencies. This article titled “SWIFT blockchain ledger has already processed real transactions; research also explores cross-border remittances using mobile phone numbers” first appeared on .
Swift blockchain ledger has already run real transactions; research is also underway on cross-border remittances using mobile phone numbers
On September 28, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced at the opening day of Sibos, the annual financial industry meeting held in Miami, that among the first 17 banks using its blockchain ledger, most have already used it for around-the-clock, real-time cross-border payments. The tokenized funds are being transmitted between Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. On the same day, SWIFT also announced collaborations with domestic real-time payment systems such as Spain’s Bizum, Australia’s PayID, and Brazil’s Pix, exploring how cross-border remittances can be completed using only a mobile phone number or email address. In its opening remarks, SWIFT CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso said: “The issue is no longer whether traditional finance or decentralized finance wins, or a choice between the two. The SWIFT platform lets you move any form of regulated value at global scale—whether it’s fiat currency or tokenized assets.” Blockchain ledger completed transactions in five currencies According to SWIFT, these banks have completed transactions using five currencies: euros, British pounds, Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars, and U.S. dollars. Use cases include settlement between financial institutions, corporate treasury management, and interbank capital routing. SWIFT announced on July 9 that the ledger could begin to be used, when 17 banks from six continents were preparing for a pilot. Previously reported, the ledger is built on Ethereum Layer 2 network Linea. The first batch of banks includes Citigroup, DBS, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and others. In September, DBS and Citigroup also completed their first weekend cross-border U.S. dollar transfers through it. SWIFT said the first phase intentionally focuses on around-the-clock real-time payments, using tokenized deposits—i.e., a digital form of commercial bank money that participating banks are already familiar with. The ledger is designed to be interoperable, and in the future it will expand according to market needs into areas such as programmable money and AI agent commerce, allowing traditional assets and digital assets to coexist globally. Cross-border remittances aim to work like domestic transfers—using only a mobile phone number In another collaboration aimed at everyday consumers, SWIFT noted that millions of people are already accustomed to making fast domestic transfers using Bizum, PayID, and Pix without needing to know the other party’s account details. This time, SWIFT brings together banks, payment providers, and technology companies across four continents to enable the mobile numbers, email addresses, and virtual payment addresses that are already registered in domestic systems to be used safely for cross-border transactions on SWIFT. Participants include Australia’s payment organization AP+, Spain’s external bank BBVA, Bizum, Brazil’s Bradesco, Australia’s Commonwealth Bank, DBS, India’s IDFC FIRST Bank, Brazil’s Ouribank, and TerraPay, among others. Bizum calls the plan a proof of concept for SWIFT, while Brazil’s Ouribank said it is helping connect Brazil’s Pix ecosystem to SWIFT’s global network. 75% of cross-border payments arrive at the receiving bank within 10 minutes—stuck in the “last mile” This so-called transfer initiative is built on the consumer payment framework launched by SWIFT in June. More than 100 banks have already joined, enabling remittances to arrive in full and with fees and exchange rates confirmed in advance. SWIFT gave examples: using this framework, a transfer from Turkey to Spain takes just 15 seconds; from Australia to India takes 37 seconds; and from Brazil to the United States takes about one minute. SWIFT said that currently, 75% of cross-border payments reach the receiving bank within 10 minutes, but about 80% of a transaction’s time is spent in the “last mile”—the period between when the funds leave the SWIFT network, enter the recipient country’s domestic bank, and are credited to the customer. SWIFT currently connects 12,500 institutions across 200 markets and 150 currencies. This article titled “SWIFT blockchain ledger has already processed real transactions; research also explores cross-border remittances using mobile phone numbers” first appeared on .
