SWIFT offers 200,000 EUR for FinTech community to leverage gpi platform

SWIFT offers 200,000 EUR for FinTech community
to leverage gpi platform

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Singapore, 21 June 2017 – SWIFT invites
FinTech companies from around the world to develop new overlay services that
leverage its SWIFT global payments innovation
(gpi) platform. SWIFT will provide funding of up to 200,000 EUR for
the two winning FinTech finalists of an Industry Challenge. The FinTech winners
will work with banks on collaborative innovation concepts that solve additional
industry challenges in cross-border payments on top of SWIFT gpi.

SWIFT gpi has
prompted the largest change in cross-border payments over the last 30 years. As
an initiative, it engages the global banking industry and solves core problems
related to speed, transparency and traceability of payments. Since its launch
in January 2017, gpi has dramatically improved the cross-border payments
experience for corporate treasurers in over 85 country corridors. Key features
of the gpi service include enhanced business rules and a secure tracking
database in the cloud accessible via APIs, resulting in faster “same day
credits” to end beneficiaries, transparency of fees, and end-to-end tracking of
payments in real-time. A strategic roadmap includes the ability to immediately
stop a payment and convey rich payment data. SWIFT gpi also explores new
technology, running a Proof of Concept using distributed ledger technology to
reconcile banks’ nostro accounts in real-time.

To further enhance this experience, SWIFT is now launching the gpi Industry Challenge to
encourage FinTech companies to build additional innovative overlay services
leveraging the gpi platform, solving incremental challenges faced by corporate
treasurers. These services can include, for example, enhanced invoice
presentment and reconciliation to facilitate financial supply chains, exchange
of supply chain documentation to improve global trade, exchange and interactive
enquiry of account and processing conditions to improve end-to-end straight
through processing, and providing additional party and transaction information
to support compliance and sanctions screening of cross-border payments.

Wim Raymaekers, Head of Banking Market and SWIFT gpi
Programme Manager at SWIFT says: “Rather than develop solutions in silo,
companies – banks and SWIFT included, should open APIs to an ecosystem of
partners. There are many companies out there with good ideas. SWIFT gpi is a
great innovation in itself; with this industry challenge we want to foster
additional collaborative innovation, drawing the best talents and thinking
to our table.”

Five FinTech companies will be invited to a gpi Industry Challenge workshop in
Singapore on 13-14 September 2017, where they will receive coaching from
FinTech experts and be in direct contact with 30 gpi member banks. Two FinTech
winners will be selected and receive up to 100,000 EUR each to further develop
their concept over a three month period with banks and SWIFT, getting exposure
to the financial industry, and be presented at Sibos in Toronto in October
2017.

Kevin Johnson, Head of SWIFT’s Innotribe Innovation
Programmes adds: “SWIFT is about bringing added-value to its customers in
response to a rapidly changing landscape. Collaboration across stakeholders is
the key to success.  This challenge draws on that unique focus and
demonstrates that by leveraging the SWIFT gpi platform, we can meet the
challenges of the financial community, together.”

For more information about the SWIFT gpi industry challenge or to apply
to participate, please contact swiftforbank@swift.com or
visit swift.com/gpi.

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Formed in 2016, the Industry Challenge programme was
developed by Innotribe to bring together SWIFT Member Institutions, FinTech
companies and SWIFT internal teams to address the obstacles and opportunities
facing the industry. The idea behind the programme is to identify and validate
emerging, utility-based solutions to problems faced by SWIFT’s member
organisations. The programme then brings together an integral mix of experts,
stakeholders and innovators to explore new solutions and develop proof of
concepts together. Innotribe’s objective is for this highly collaborative
process to reveal solutions that are original, scalable and ready for immediate
piloting.

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 11,000 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 neutral, global character of its
cooperative structure. SWIFT’s global office network ensures an active presence
in all the major financial centres.

For more information, visit www.swift.com or
follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: SWIFT