This week we learned about the ambitions of SWIFT. You know, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, SWIFT. A few years ago, much of the corporate interest in SWIFT was limited to cash management issues, with a new spark of interest when financial crisis hit.
But now SWIFT has decided to change its image with some new tools. The ultimate goal? 5000 connected corporations in 2015.
New tools for SWIFT
Today however, SWIFT has a set of new tools that include:
- Electronic bank account management (eBAM), e-invoicing and e-payments.
- Secure Signature Key (3SKey).
- Enhanced core messaging and connectivity solutions.
- Plus service bureaus for on-boarding.
- E-invoicing.
SWIFT target group
These new tools make it easier and less expensive for companies of all sizes to use SWIFT. The main user group of SWIFT are corporations. It is this specific target group that:
- Has many bank accounts around the world.
- Wants to centralize their treasury operation.
- Wants the value-added services like e-invoicing and e-payments that SWIFT offers.
- Gets access to more than 8,500 financial institutions in 200 countries when it joins SWIFT.
And, by using a service bureau approach, companies can now tackle the cost and on-boarding complexities while getting the expertise they need at a much more reasonable price.
SWIFT 2015 goal: 5000 corporations
Currently SWIFT has attracted the attention of roughly 800 corporations. But now, with the new tools SWIFT claims no longer to be just for the largest companies anymore.
That is why SWIFT recently declared the objective is to get to 5,000 corporations on SWIFT by 2015. That is over a 1000 new corporations large organisations. Each year. That is more new connections per year for the next four years than SWIFT gained in its entire existence.
All in all a massive undertaking. But there is a good chance that connecting to other networks will create the economies of scale to reach the 2015 goal. We wish SWIFT a successful 2012-2015.
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