- New service enables businesses and consumers to send payments in seconds with full transparency and strong security

- SWIFT Go is a key building block in the co-operative’s strategy  to enable instant and frictionless cross-border transactions - Seven leading global banks already live with the service 

SWIFT today announces the launch of SWIFT Go, a transformative new service that enables small businesses and consumers to send fast, predictable, highly secure, and competitively priced low-value cross-border payments anywhere in the world, direct from their bank accounts. Seven global banks, which collectively handle 33 million low-value cross-border payments per year, are already live with the service. 

SWIFT Go enables financial institutions to offer a seamless payments experience for low value transactions often initiated by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to pay suppliers overseas and by consumers sending money to friends and family internationally. Using tighter  service level agreements between institutions and pre-validation of data, SWIFT Go enables 

banks to provide their end customers a fast and predictable payments experience with upfront visibility on processing times and costs. 

The SWIFT Go service builds on the high-speed rails of SWIFT gpi, which have transformed the speed and predictability of high-value payments. The service marks another milestone in  SWIFT’s strategy to enable instant and frictionless transactions from one account to another,  across SWIFT’s network that connects more than 11,000 institutions, and 4 billion accounts across 200 countries worldwide. It will further strengthen the capabilities of banks to serve their customers in the high-growth small business and consumer payments segments. 

Stephen Gilderdale, Chief Product Officer, at SWIFT said: “SWIFT Go is a further step  towards achieving our vision of enabling anybody, anywhere, to send money instantly and  securely around the world. The new service is a direct response to the needs of small  businesses and consumers for fast, easy, predictable, secure and competitively priced cross 

border payments. Our new service will allow banks to compete effectively in one of the fastest  growing segments of the payments market, delivering a seamless experience for their  customers.” 

SWIFT Go was developed in close collaboration with the global SWIFT community and is  underpinned by several key pillars: 

• Speed: Tighter service levels between banks increase speed. A single payment format  increases straight-through processing, while services such as pre-validation remove frictions that cause delays. 

• Predictability: The amount, time, fees and FX rate of a payment are known in advance. The sender and receiver of payment can track the status in real-time. • Easy to use: The user experience is simple and streamlined, with data requirements  known upfront. Strict network validation provides for easy initiation and processing of  SWIFT Go payments 

• Competitive prices: Processing fees are agreed between financial institutions upfront  so they can provide their customers with full transparency; increased straight-through processing further reduces processing costs. 

• Security: Senders and receivers have peace of mind that payments are underpinned  by the strong security of the SWIFT network.

Seven leading global banks are now using SWIFT Go live: BBVA; Bank of New York Mellon;  DNB; MYBank; Sberbank; Société Générale, and UniCredit. 

Raouf Soussi, Head of Enterprise Payments Strategy of Client Solutions, BBVA said:  “BBVA is very excited to be one of the first banks to sign up to SWIFT Go and we recognise  the potential of this solution to revolutionise the way SMEs and consumers move money around  the world. We have listened closely to our customers and we know how much they value a  secure service that ensures payments reach their destination quickly and seamlessly." 

Isabel Schmidt, Head of Direct Clearing and Asset Account Services Products, Bank of  New York Mellon said: “It’s no secret that for many years consumers and small businesses  have been running into varying pain points when transacting international payments. These  challenges have included opaque costs and lack of certainty on how quickly funds are delivered  to the final beneficiary. This is why BNY Mellon is pleased to be the first US bank to go live with 

SWIFT Go, a new service that overcomes all of these challenges and assists financial  institutions in delivering a competitive, seamless, fast and predictable payments experience to  their customers.” 

Feng Liang, Deputy CEO, MYBank said: “SWIFT gpi has become the benchmark for high value cross-border transactions and we are confident that SWIFT Go will be equally as  transformative for SME payments. By providing for instant, seamless transactions within one of  the highest growth areas of our industry, we expect that adoption of SWIFT Go will be  widespread and that it will quickly be established as the industry standard for lower value  transactions.” 

Jean-François Mazure, Head of Cash Clearing and Correspondent Banking, Société  Générale said: “As customer expectations for faster payments evolve, the correspondent  banking industry requires a solution to more competitively process SME and consumer  payments. SWIFT Go fits perfectly with it, allowing us to provide an outstanding experience to  our customers with predictable, seamless, and frictionless low-value cross-border transactions  reaching beneficiaries accounts quicker than ever.” 

Raphael Barisaac, Global Head of Cash Management, Global Co-Head of Trade,  UniCredit said: “UniCredit has long been a keen supporter of innovations within payments that  deliver excellent outcomes for end-customers, and as such we are very proud of our  involvement in SWIFT Go. This is a service that will lead to real benefits for SMEs and  consumers, allowing them to enjoy the speed, predictability and transparency that SWIFT gpi  has brought to high-value transactions.”