Notes to editors

Please see below quotes from the participating banks:

"ABN AMRO is working on various internal and external Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) initiatives, of which this proof of concept with SWIFT is one. As a gpi member bank, ABN AMRO is delighted to be participating in the validation and testing of the SWIFT gpi DLT proof of concept as part of the broader SWIFT gpi initiative. DLT holds the potential to improve nostro account reconciliation and liquidity management. We welcome the opportunity to work with SWIFT on this proof of concept in order to address today’s challenges and bring the benefits of DLT technology, like lower costs and better risk management, to the SWIFT community and our clients."- Floor Kurstjens, Director of Operations, ABN AMRO Bank

“This proof of concept has value to us as banks, that if we get it right, we can identify unwanted and fraudulent transactions inter day and not only when we do our nostro reconciliations.” - Sean Mouton, Chief Technology Manager, ABSA

"SWIFT gpi has made an impressive improvement towards certainty and transparency in the payment landscape for our customers. BBVA is fully committed to innovation in the DLT/​Blockchain area and we look forward to participating in the enhancement of the Nostro reconciliation.​ We are convinced that collaborating with SWIFT will bring the essential network effect to make this happen" - Raouf Soussi, Head of Global Innovation and Multicountry Projects, BBVA

“China Minsheng Bank is delighted to be participating in DLT with SWIFT. We joined SWIFT gpi aiming to facilitate cross-border payments and improve customer experience. Distributed Ledger Technology provides the opportunity for banks to reconcile international nostro accounts in real time and manage funds throughout the business day. We appreciate the opportunity to be part of Proof of Concept (PoC) initiative and sincerely wish to witness the accomplishments DLT could achieve.” - Dr. Xu Jie, PH.D, Deputy General Manager of Transaction Banking Department, China Minsheng Bank

“The DLT based nostro reconciliation approach has the potential to change financial practice and exchange. Commerzbank is delighted to participate in this proof of concept to build standards and enhance the portfolio of SWIFT gpi. SWIFT has often proved in the past to be the right place for modernization ideas and the SWIFT gpi initiative underpins SWIFT’s role in this respect.” - Ingrid Weißkopf, Head of FI Products and Advisory at Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt

“FirstRand Bank is excited to be involved in assisting SWIFT in uncovering DLT’s potential in the Nostro Management space. We welcome any developments associated with achieving real time Nostro and Liquidity Management, and the increased operational efficiencies and improved risk management that accompany them.”- Bernard Carless, Head Settlement & SWIFT, FirstRand Bank

“SWIFT gpi is improving cross border payments in terms of users’ experience and speed of payments; therefore banks’ treasuries must adapt their own position keeping systems and the use of DLTs might become the core technology to help them. Intesa Sanpaolo is very active in innovative technologies and is willing to help build this new route to the future of cross border payments.” - Stefano Favale, Head of Global Transaction Banking, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A.

“Mashreq is delighted to be participating in the SWIFT led multi-bank PoC powered by Distributed Ledger Technology for Nostro Account reconciliation under the SWIFT gpi program. We believe SWIFT, covering the largest network of banks and standardized messaging protocols, is strategically positioned to revolutionize the way banks manage their processes, and paves a path towards creating a true digital community, amongst the many other initiatives to follow. Mashreq’s digitisation roadmap is closely aligned with the SWIFT gpi program and we look forward to working with SWIFT to make this partnership a success.” - Rahul Jayakar, Head of Global Transaction Services Products & Trade Mashreq Bank

“With the payment industry undergoing a major transformation, Société Générale is always keen to be at the forefront of such innovation, exploring new technological solutions. When learning about the Proof of Concept launched by SWIFT on how the Distributed Ledger Technology incorporated into the SWIFT gpi framework could improve the real-time nostro/vostro reconciliation, Société Générale naturally expressed a strong interest in this initiative. Being a gpi member since the beginning, Société Générale is very proud to participate in this PoC which is part of phase 3 of the gpi roadmap. Nostro reconciliation is identified by the gpi vision group as a priority use for DLT exploration.” - Jean-François Mazure, Head of cash Clearing services Société Générale

“In the last few years there has been extensive industry talk about Fintech disruption and innovation in the world of correspondent banking, where banks have had to subsequently react. SWIFT gpi is a collective response to some of these threats.. Being part of SWIFT global payments innovation (gpi), and working with our industry counterparts, is giving correspondent banks a platform to examine and refine current processes, and to collaborate and explore different, more efficient ways of doing things. Ultimately, our clients will benefit most from this initiative. SWIFT gpi is one of the more exciting initiatives in correspondent banking in recent years.” - Kent Marais,Head TPS Product Management, Standard Bank South Africa

“We are very encouraged on the adoption rates and the payments traffic of the SWIFT gpi service, only six months after it went live. Standard Chartered has been involved in the gpi initiative as a pilot bank and a founding member in its vision group. The work on the DLT PoC will allow us to continue improving on the cross-border payments experience for our clients by making our internal processes around the critical step of NOSTRO reconciliation, highly efficient.” - Anurag Bajaj, Managing Director and Global Head of Banks,Transaction Banking at Standard Chartered Bank

“Streamlining the process of nostro reconciliation has been a long-standing challenge for our industry. It is significant that gpi banks are going to address it in the foreseeable future. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is willing to deliver more efficient and effective services to our customers through SWIFT gpi.” - Airo Shibuya, Senior General Manager, Transaction Business Planning Dept., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

“SWIFT’s global payments innovation (gpi) studies are proving the value of collaboration and transformation across the entire international payments value chain. Real time visibility of nostro reconciliation is another leap forward in efficiency for correspondent banking, as we endeavour to improve the customer experience in cross-border payments.” - Westpac’s General Manager of Global Transaction Services Di Challenor,

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 11,000 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

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