Swift to Add Blockchain-Based Ledger to Its Infrastructure Stack in Groundbreaking Move to Accelerate and Scale Benefits of Digital Finance Across More Than 200 Countries and Territories Worldwide

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BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 29, 2025--

Swift today announces that it will add a blockchain-based shared ledger to its technology infrastructure, a pivotal step for global finance that promises to make instant, always-on cross-border transactions possible at unprecedented scale.

Swift already has kicked off work with a group of more than 30 financial institutions globally to design and build the ledger, focused on a first use case of real-time 24/7 cross-border payments and starting with a conceptual prototype by Consensys. Swift will work at pace to complete the prototype in phase one and define its future phases of work.

The ledger will extend Swift's financial communication role into a digital environment, facilitating banks’ trusted and scalable movement of regulated tokenised value across digital ecosystems. Swift’s focus is on the infrastructure – the types of tokens that will be exchanged on the ledger is the territory of commercial and central banks and Swift will work with them on how to complement and make use of this new infrastructure.

It is envisaged that the ledger -- a secure, real-time log of transactions between financial institutions -- will record, sequence and validate transactions and enforce rules through smart contracts. It will be built for interoperability, both with existing and emerging networks, while maintaining the trust, resilience and compliance synonymous with Swift and critical to the secure functioning of global finance.

Announcing the ledger at Swift’s annual flagship Sibos conference in Frankfurt today, Swift CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso commented: “ We provide powerful and effective rails today and are moving at a rapid pace with our community to create the infrastructure stack of the future. Through this initial ledger concept we are paving the way for financial institutions to take the payments experience to the next level with Swift’s proven and trusted platform at the centre of the industry’s digital transformation.”

Financial institutions from 16 countries are providing Swift feedback on the design of the ledger, and, following successful development and proof of concept, Swift will work with its global community on implementation. The group of banks working on the design includes:

The ledger is a natural extension of Swift’s progressive ecosystem innovation and live digital asset trials over the past two years. To ensure interoperability between DLT and existing fiat currency rails, Swift today also announced it will roll out client solutions to orchestrate between different systems, supporting both private and public networks to ensure efficient and synchronised transactions for various use cases.

These developments are part of Swift’s overall strategy to power a best-in-class payments experience however value moves, with parallel tracks of innovation to upgrade the experience over existing ‘fiat’ rails, as well as to ready the industry for digital finance. In an acceleration of this strategy, last week, Swift also announced the development of new scheme rules over existing rails to ensure a fast and predictable experience for consumers and small businesses sending money anywhere in the world.

About Swift

Swift is a global member owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and regulatory compliance.

Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,500 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. While Swift does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable our global community of users to communicate securely, exchanging standardised financial messages in a reliable way, thereby supporting global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world.

As their trusted provider, we relentlessly pursue operational excellence; we support our community in addressing cyber threats; and we continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Our products and services support our community’s access and integration, business intelligence, reference data and financial crime compliance needs. Swift also brings the financial community together – at global, regional and local levels – to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest or concern.

Headquartered in Belgium, Swift’s international governance and oversight reinforces the globally inclusive character of its cooperative structure. Swift’s global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres.

The shared ledger has broad support from coalition banks:

Nigel Dobson, Banking Services Lead at ANZ, said: “ANZ shares Swift’s passion to deliver best-in-class payments experiences at scale. Drawing on our own work with blockchain-based shared ledgers, we believe it can be a powerful infrastructure upgrade and a pivotal step toward global, instant, always-on cross border transactions. It’s our view that no single institution can achieve this alone. Swift’s neutral role and global network uniquely position it to drive industry collaboration and adoption, and ANZ is proud to contribute our expertise to building resilient, future-ready payments infrastructure.”

AJ McCray, Global Head of Payments in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, said: “As the environment for cross border payments continues to evolve with new technologies and innovations, our clients have an even greater need for solutions that make payments more efficient. A digital shared ledger, created with the Swift community, offers transparency and interoperability, two priorities to effectively manage cross-border payments in a 24/7 world.”

Eva Rubio, Head of Global Transaction Banking at BBVA Corporate & Investment Banking, said: “Swift’s digital ledger initiative is a game-changer for the future of cross-border payments. The ability to settle regulated value in real time – with the reliability and security that the industry expects from Swift – will unlock new efficiencies and opportunities for our clients. At BBVA, we are committed to collaborating on this next chapter of financial innovation to deliver the speed, transparency and resilience that businesses and consumers need in a digital world.”

Bruno Mellado, Global Head of Payments and Receivables at BNP Paribas, said: “"The blockchain financial ecosystem will need seamless interoperability and standards between currency areas and institutions. Swift’s initiative provides the opportunity for building the foundational infrastructure needed for connecting the diverse blockchain ecosystems through standards and trusted rails. By partnering in this initiative, we are helping our clients and banking partners design a promising trajectory towards multi-currency atomic settlements using blockchain networks and interoperating with existing payment networks.”

Isabel Schmidt, Executive Platform Owner, Payments Enablement Platform at BNY, said: “ At BNY, we are focused on the evolution of payments infrastructure to meet the demands of an always-on global economy. Swift’s work on a shared ledger represents an important step toward exploring how cross-border transactions can become faster, more transparent and more resilient. Recognizing the importance of these industry efforts helps ensure solutions that bring greater efficiency and choice for financial institutions and their clients worldwide.”

Marina Veasey, Director at Bradesco, said: “The collaboration with Swift to advance the international payments experience is another initiative in favour of innovation in financial services - a constant focus for Bradesco.”

Debopama Sen, Head of Payments, Services, Citi, said: “The launch of a robust 24/7 ledger is an important enabler for always on payments and liquidity. We are excited about Swift’s initiative to collaborate with the community on this foundational infrastructure.”

Brigitte Réthier, Divisional Board Member Institutional Clients & Transaction Banking Sales at Commerzbank, said: "The integration of blockchain technology into Swift’s platform represents an exciting leap forward for international payments and will serve the industry well. This collaboration will enable us to deliver enhanced services for our clients. We are thrilled to help meet the growing demand for innovative forms of instant, secure global transactions."

Guénolé de Cadoudal, Head of Digital Assets Group at Crédit Agricole, said: “ Swift’s digital ledger initiative is a promising piece of the digital money network. Through the Swift community, banks and clients will more easily reach convergence on standards for the tokenized representation of money and its integration with the tokenized asset classes. We look forward to contributing with our expertise and business-oriented developments.”

Lim Soon Chong, Group Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS Bank, said: “Our track record of developing instant cross-border payment capabilities and our early foray into blockchain-based payment solutions enable DBS to meaningfully support Swift’s digital shared ledger initiative. We believe blockchain technology can usher in the next generation of ‘always-on’ and ‘smarter’ financial services. Swift’s initiative goes a step further – it is interoperable with traditional correspondent banking rails, has a high transaction capacity within a secure environment, and is accessible by Swift’s global banking network. These characteristics are critical in supporting broad-based reach and adoption, and have the potential to form the backbone of a resilient and future-ready global financial infrastructure.”

Ole Matthiessen, Global Head of Cash Management & Head of Corporate Bank APAC MEA at Deutsche Bank, said: “The development of a shared digital ledger marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of cross-border payments, combining the strengths of global financial institutions and technology partners. We are laying the foundation for a more interoperable, resilient, and future-ready financial ecosystem where innovative payment solutions can scale on global level and benefits of digital finance solutions can be realised across the entire industry.”

Anith Daniel, Group Head of Transaction Banking Services at Emirates NBD, said: "Embracing the future of finance, Emirates NBD is thrilled to join Swift in pioneering the integration of a blockchain-based shared ledger. This innovative step is set to revolutionise cross-border transactions, making them instant and always-on, no matter where you are in the world. By harnessing Swift's unparalleled security and scalability, we are committed to delivering a seamless and transparent payment experience for our customers. Together with Swift and our global partners, we are shaping the future of banking, ensuring that our customers benefit from the most advanced and efficient payment solutions available."

Martin Tricaud, Group Head of Wholesale Banking at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), said: “The launch of Swift’s blockchain-based shared ledger represents a defining moment for the future of global payments. As the largest bank in the UAE, FAB is committed to enabling seamless, real-time cross-border settlement rails that support the growth of trade, investment, and remittances flows across our region and beyond. We hope to shape a better connected, efficient and resilient financial ecosystem that delivers lasting value for businesses and communities worldwide.”

Manish Kohli, Head of Global Payments Solutions at HSBC, said: “We are delighted to partner with Swift on this innovative project. Our work is driven by a common ambition: to make cross-border payments faster, smarter and always available. This collaboration complements HSBC’s own initiatives and innovation within the digital currency space; by bringing together our solutions and expertise with Swift’s global network capabilities, we can help shape the future of global payments for the benefit of our customers and industry.”

Gayathri Vasudev, Global Head of Core Payment Rails at J.P. Morgan, said, “For over a decade, J.P. Morgan has been at the forefront of blockchain innovation, transforming the financial services landscape. We look forward to engaging with this coalition to help evaluate a shared ledger designed for the next generation of global payments, leveraging our expertise to help advance instant, secure and efficient cross-border payments.”

Masahiro Matsumoto, Global head of Transaction Banking at MUFG, said: “We are proud to help shape the future of digital finance together with Swift and our global partners. Swift’s blockchain-based digital ledger represents a transformative milestone, ushering in a new era for global payments. This innovation enables us to offer instant, secure, and programmable payment solutions to our clients worldwide.”

Lee McNabb, Head of Group Payment and Digital Asset Strategy at NatWest, said: "As digital assets continue to develop and mature at pace, Swift’s blockchain-based ledger provides the foundational infrastructure needed for trusted, real-time cross-border payments alongside existing ways of moving money. By partnering in this initiative, we are shaping solutions that allow our clients benefit from greater speed, transparency and crucially, flexibility in the digital age – without wavering on robust compliance and risk management."

Mr Melvyn Low, Head of Global Transaction Banking at OCBC, said: “We are proud to be among the first banks to contribute our experience and capabilities in blockchain towards Swift's ledger initiative. This marks a significant step forward for the industry in shaping the future of payments leveraging distributed ledger infrastructure. By enabling real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments with higher efficiency, transparency and security, this initiative can open up more payment options for both retail and corporate clients across Asia.”

Jose Luis Calderón, CEO of PagoNxt Payments (a Santander company), said: “Traditional international payments models are no longer suited to today’s digital economy. Instead, in sectors like P2P payments and small-to-medium-enterprise (SME) commerce, there is a strong need for faster, more efficient crossborder solutions. Tokenization and blockchain technologies enablement of real-time payments, greater transparency, and financial inclusion − all signal ‘the rise of a new global payments paradigm’. This initiative is a great step forward in this direction and we are thrilled to take part in this joint industry effort.”

Erica Nielsen, Group Head, RBC Personal Banking at RBC, said: "The integration of blockchain technology into Swift's platform represents an exciting leap forward for international payments and will serve the industry well. This collaboration will enable RBC to deliver enhanced services for our clients to connect digital and traditional finance alike. We are thrilled to help meet the growing demand for innovative forms of instant, secure global transactions."

Louis (Byung hee) Kim, Leader of Digital Asset Cell at Shinhan Bank, said: “Swift has long served as a cornerstone of the global financial infrastructure, ensuring trust and stability in cross-border payments. The Swift Ledger initiative marks an important milestone in advancing Swift’s established legacy into a next-generation payments infrastructure. Shinhan Bank is honoured to participate as the only Korean commercial bank in this project, contributing to the development of a faster, more secure, and future-ready global payments ecosystem, and we remain committed to driving continued innovation and progress in the international financial industry.”

Jean-Marc Stenger, CEO of Societe Generale-FORGE, said: “As a stablecoin issuer, we are delighted to join this coalition to further expand the accessibility to regulated tokenized assets, and more specifically Mica-compliant stablecoins, for various use cases. Building on the work already undertaken with our respective teams in previous test transactions, this initiative is fully aligned with our commitment to offer clients robust and widely accessible market infrastructure alongside a new pathway for the digital financial industry.”

Michael Spiegel, Global Head of Transaction Banking, Standard Chartered said: ”This initiative will provide the infrastructure needed for the industry to further scale the development of blockchain-based solutions. We are pleased to play our part in supporting its success by sharing our knowledge and expertise in developing real time 24/7 cross-border payments and settlements solutions.”

So Lay Hua, Head of Group Transaction Banking at UOB, said: “Our participation in this coalition will shape the payments landscape for our clients across ASEAN and beyond. The shift to this new regulated digital infrastructure will facilitate global payments to support tokenised value, liquidity optimisation and faster settlement.”

Ather Williams III, Head of Global Payments and Liquidity and Wholesale Digital at Wells Fargo, said: “We look forward to working with Swift to explore digital ledger frameworks. This initiative reflects our commitment to aligning with global regulatory standards while driving innovation across the financial ecosystem.”

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PUB: 09/29/2025 03:30 AM/DISC: 09/29/2025 03:31 AM

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