SWIFT will start using blockchain technology

SWIFT, the international banking system for information transfer and payments, is launching a pilot project with fintech company Symbiont. The goal is to provide accurate data to financial companies using blockchain technologies. Financial giants Vanguard, Citigroup, American Century Investments, and Northern Trust have joined the initiative.

«By combining the Symbiont platform and smart contracts with the SWIFT global network, we can automatically and seamlessly reconcile data from multiple corporate sources and transfer it to its intended destination,» explained SWIFT Chief Innovation Officer Tom Zschach. Analysts say that the new approach will help the banking operator to increase its relevance in the context of the emergence of its own government digital assets (CBDCs) in different countries.

The pilot project of SWIFT and Symbiont will help providers send the necessary data to customers around the world in real time. Through Symbiont’s patented technology platform and smart contracts, SWIFT expects to achieve a «network effect that will involve more than 11,000 institutions connected to the new blockchain infrastructure around the world.»

As a global financial artery, SWIFT delivers secure messages to more than 200 countries, channeling trillions of dollars in international transactions. It should be noted that the interbank system has attracted much attention from the world community and diplomats after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Subsequently, the United States and Europe disconnected a number of Russian banks from SWIFT.

It should be added that SWIFT is not the only payment system interested in using blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. In late June, Visa announced the launch of bank cards in Latin America that will support cryptocurrency payments. The launch took place in partnership with Latin American startups: Satoshi Tango, Lemon Cash, Zro Bank, and Afterbank.