Swift to form new rules for retail cross-border payments
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Swift to form new rules for retail cross-border payments 25 September 2025Belgium Reporter: Tahlia Kraefft
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Swift and its participant banks are set to introduce new network rules to ensure reliable and efficient cross-border payments for consumers and small businesses.
The firm is working to develop a new scheme framework alongside an alliance of over 30 early adopter banks to deliver upfront transparency on payment costs, end-to-end visibility, full value delivery, and instant settlement.
Swift platform capabilities, which have recently faced an upgrade, will enable financial institutions to enhance cross-border retail payments.
It now offers fully transparent transfers that exceed G20 targets, with 75 per cent of payments reaching beneficiary banks within 10 minutes.
Banks from 17 countries will work with Swift to set the retail rules in stages, including defining mechanisms to ensure adherence.
The work advances the 2027 G20 Roadmap for cross-border payments, which Swift has made a strategic priority.
The firm has made progress in the ‘in-flight’ cross-border leg, and says it has also been focused on removing friction in end-to-end transaction chains.
Thierry Chilosi, chief business officer at Swift, says: “Swift has worked with its community over the past few years to significantly raise the bar on the cross-border payments experience. And now, together with the industry, we are bringing those same benefits to retail customers around the world.
“The new scheme will ensure that consumers and small businesses will experience fast and predictable international payments, whether sending money to family abroad or paying an overseas supplier.”
Eva Rubio, head of global transaction banking at BBVA Corporate and Investment Banking, adds: “Interoperability is key to the future of cross-border payments.
“At BBVA, we have already seen in Europe how instant payments can transform the experience for both corporates and individuals. With Swift’s initiative, we are taking the next step to extend those benefits at a global scale.”
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