Fintech startup Ripple Labs is banking on blockchain technology to help it overtake the decades old Swift network behind the majority of the world’s financial and security transfers, according to its chief executive Brad Garlinghouse.

Blockchain technology works as a decentralised ledger and removes the need for money to be processed through accounts at a central authority.

The boss of the San Francisco-based company said Ripple has attracted a number of new customers as financial firms look to frontier technologies such as blockchain to solve logistical issues posed by older software.

Swift, which was first formed in 1972 and stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, is being used by both companies and individuals to send and receive money. It currently has more than 11,000 customers involved in the corporate sector and capital markets across 200 countries.

Ripple was founded in 2012 and uses its XRP cryptocurrency as a proxy for customers looking to convert fiat currencies.

Its promise to provide liquidity for payments has allowed Ripple to partner with a number of institutional finance companies such as Standard Chartered and American Express.