Swift Launches Blockchain Ledger as 17 Banks Prepare Live Pilots

The ledger project, announced last September, is now ready for initial use as 17 participating banks prepare to pilot 24/7 cross-border payments using tokenised deposits.

Swift has completed development of its blockchain-based ledger and says the offering is now “ready for initial use, enabling early adopter financial institutions to support 24/7 cross-border payments with tokenised deposits”.

Going live nine months after Swift announced the project and just four months after it completed the design for the ledger, 17 banks across six continents – including BNP Paribas, HSBC, Lloyds, and Citi – are now preparing to pilot live transactions using the ledger.

According to Swift, the shared ledger provides participating banks with a “secure orchestration layer for bank-issued tokenised deposits on their own ledgers”. The system allows the institutions to move client funds at any time, including overnight and on weekends, before completing final settlement through their existing infrastructure.

Swift adds that banks using the ledger will benefit from “improved client experience and global liquidity efficiency without compromising compliance, credit, risk, and control standards embedded in existing payment processing”.

Following the initial controlled go-live phase, Swift says it plans to expand the ledger’s “functionality and availability”.

This development comes days after the company launched a new framework for consumer cross-border transfers that requires banks to display exact fees and exchange rates upfront.

Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, and Lloyds Banking Group are among the first institutions to implement this framework, which connects directly into the UK’s domestic Faster Payments network.

Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/blockchain-crypto-digital-assets/swift-launches-blockchain-ledger