Raising the baseline for cross-border payments

Evidence tier: A1 Evidence type: Auto-discovered official publication Source: Swift Press Releases Official publication date: 2026-07-20 Captured: 2026-08-03T12:58:43.577Z

July 2026 edition | Read time: 10 minutes

Explore how Swift is helping raise the global baseline for cross-border payments through a shared framework designed to improve transparency, traceability, predictability and consistency, while preparing the industry for a future of tokenised, always-on value transfer.

Highlights

Momentum across the financial ecosystem

Swift's blockchain-based ledger is ready

Nine months after announcing plans for the Swift ledger, Swift and 17 early adopter institutions are preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenised deposits. The initiative demonstrates how industry collaboration can bring digital value into the regulated financial system while supporting 24/7 cross-border payments, greater liquidity efficiency and future use cases. Discover how the Swift ledger moved from concept to initial use.

Swift's blockchain-based ledger explained (7-mins watch)

The Swift ledger explainer video series explores how a shared, blockchain-based ledger can support real-time, 24/7 cross-border interbank payments. Across four episodes, discover how the Swift ledger is designed to connect existing and emerging payment ecosystems, improve liquidity visibility and coordination, and provide a trusted, interoperable foundation for moving digital value at global scale. Watch the series to learn how the Swift ledger is helping shape the future of always-on payments.

A better cross-border payment experience is here

More than 30 banks are already using Swift’s payments scheme across over 30 corridors, giving customers faster payments, clearer fees and end-to-end tracking. With some transactions completing in under a minute, discover how a common framework is turning a better cross-border experience into reality.

Payment Optimisation Playbook: What’s slowing down the last mile?

Most cross-border payments reach beneficiary banks within minutes, yet the last mile still accounts for around 80% of total processing time. Discover the five structural frictions behind these delays, and the practical actions that can help remove them.

Swift at Sibos: the programme is live

Swift’s Sibos programme is now live, bringing together four days of insight on the future of payments, securities and financial infrastructure. From the Swift ledger and payments scheme to AI, tokenisation, ISO 20022, liquidity, resilience and trust, the agenda explores how the industry is moving from ambition to action. Discover the sessions shaping what comes next.

Leadership insights

Building the foundations for a resilient, innovative financial future

Across recent leadership engagements, Swift has reinforced a consistent message: the future of finance will depend on combining innovation with the trust, security and resilience of today’s global financial infrastructure.

Welcoming Mr. Zhang Hui, Bank of China Vice Chairman and President, and his leadership team to Swift’s headquarters, CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso discussed how faster fiat payments and digital assets can converge to better serve the real economy. The exchange also highlighted the importance of continued collaboration with the Chinese financial community as Swift evolves its cooperative and supports a more connected global ecosystem.

This focus on strong foundations continued at EBAday 2026, where Javier joined EBA CLEARING CEO Hays Littlejohn to discuss the next decade of payments. As transaction volumes grow and new technologies scale, robust infrastructure must remain efficient, secure and interoperable, allowing the industry to innovate without compromising resilience or trust.

Swift is also strengthening its technology leadership for this next phase with the appointment of Michael Manos as Chief Information Officer. Drawing on more than three decades of experience, Michael will lead Swift’s platform strategy and oversee priorities including post-quantum cryptography, frontier AI and the adoption of new cryptographic standards.

Together, these developments reflect a shared direction: advancing innovation through collaboration, while ensuring the global financial ecosystem remains secure, resilient and ready for what comes next.

In case you missed it

Interoperability has become a buzzword – here’s what it means for tokenised deposits

Interoperability is increasingly central to discussions on tokenisation, yet its practical implications remain unclear. In the latest from Perspectives, our thought leadership series, Jack Pouderoyen, Head of Digital Asset Strategy at Swift, explores what interoperability means in the context of tokenised deposits and why it is critical to scaling globally.

Without interoperability, tokenised deposits risk remaining confined to intra-institutional use cases that do not scale.

Unlocking their potential depends on enabling institutions to coordinate transactions and manage liquidity seamlessly across environments. Interoperability is what allows tokenised deposits to move from isolated innovation to a scalable, widely usable form of money.

Read more

Did you know?

6+ hours

That’s the potential reduction in payment crediting time when less visible structural frictions, such as regulatory requirements, FX constraints, standards gaps and risk controls, are addressed alongside domestic infrastructure.