Swift stated that the pilot will focus initially on enabling fast identification and elimination of errors in payment messages.
A real-time API-based mechanism will enable banks to send and receive API calls over Swift to check beneficiary account information at the receiving banks. This will allow banks to quickly remedy any inaccurate or missing information, thus reducing delays and costs.
The banks that have agreed to take part in the pilot include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of China, Barclays, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, E.SUN Commercial Bank, ICBC, J.P. Morgan, National Australia Bank, Piraeus Bank, Societe Generale and Wells Fargo.
The pilot is the first stage in rolling out Swift’s gpi pre-validation program, which can also look at using predictive analytics and artificial intelligence for improved predictability in international payments.
The gpi pre-validation service can ensure that several preventable errors and omissions are corrected before the initial instructions are sent, so that the instructions can be processed.
Next year, the gpi pre-validation service will be complemented by a new investigation and reconciliation service that can provide settlement of remaining payment inquiries and investigations.
Presently, more than 50% of all of Swift’s cross-border payment volumes are sent as gpi and out of this, more than half of the payments get credited to the beneficiary in less than 30 minutes with many arriving in few seconds.
Swift chief marketing officer Luc Meurant said: “Swift gpi has already created a fast and frictionless cross-border payment experience for many banks and corporates – but we know that there are still payments which can be sped up further by ensuring the correct information is provided at the start.
“By embedding this new capability in the same payment messaging channel, thousands of banks will benefit from the resulting efficiencies, thus boosting the financial services industry as a whole as we move toward universal implementation of gpi in 2020.”
Swift stated that along with the pilot banks, it will agree the global industry specifications for gpi pre-validation service by the end of this year, as the pilot is set begin early next year.
