Swift has launched gpi Instant, the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week cross-border instant payment service.
The first country where this service has been activated is the UK and can be used by individuals and businesses. Thanks to gpi Instant, they can send payments across borders via their financial institutions in seconds.
Lloyds Banking Group clients are currently experiencing this new feature.
Thanks to Swift‘s gpi Instant, payments are not only fast but also transparent with clear commission costs and can be monitored in real-time when the transfer arrives at the recipient.
This service is set to expand and become global. Swift is committed to the gpi Instant service as part of its expansion strategy to become a leading provider of cross-border instant payments worldwide.
This is an area in which Ripple is in competition, not least because of its partnership with MoneyGram. Soon, central state currencies such as the digital euro could also offer instant payments. In this case, the ECB would use TIPS, a system currently tested by the Bank of Italy.
The birth and ambitions of gpi Instant by Swift
Swift’s gpi Instant project was launched at the beginning of the year and involved several banking institutions such as
- Barclays,
- Commonwealth Bank of Australia,
- DBS,
- Wells Fargo,
- BBVA.
The tests before the official launch were carried out on infrastructures in Singapore, Australia and Europe.
Essentially, Swift is maintaining its ambitions and creating an even better product for cross-border payments, while the competition is starting to get stronger.
This is what David Watson, SWIFT’s Chief Strategy Officer, said:
“This is an important milestone in our strategic ambition to help banks meet growing global demand for instant and frictionless cross-border payments. We developed gpi Instant with our community through responsible innovation and equal emphasis on four core needs — speed, security, transparency and compliance. We look forward to continuing our work with market infrastructures and financial institutions to bring the benefits of seamless cross-border payments to customers across the globe”.
Ed Thurman, Managing Director, Head of Global Transaction Banking, Lloyds Banking Group, added:
“At Lloyds Bank we strive to continually evolve and create innovative solutions for our clients. The gpi Instant service is set to be a game changer in cross-border payments and we are very excited to be the first bank globally to offer the service here into the UK. We already offer our financial institution clients access to the Faster Payments Service for their cross-border flow into the UK, the launch of SWIFT gpi Instant will make those transactions visible on the SWIFT gpi Tracker. This partnership demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the market by working with SWIFT to launch gpi instant in the UK”.
