Individuals and small businesses receiving money from family, friends or businesses abroad will get a faster, clearer experience as Bank of America and J.P. Morgan go live with a new initiative from Swift, the organisation behind the global network that connects more than 11,500 financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories.

The initiative sets a new standard for international retail transfers so consumers experience several key benefits:

  • The full amount arrives. If someone sends money from overseas, that is exactly what lands in the account with no unexpected deductions.

  • It arrives faster. In many cases, money will arrive within minutes. Where local banking systems support it, transfers can arrive near instantly.

  • The cost is clear from the start. Before the sender presses confirm, they can see the fee and exchange rate so there are no surprises.

Bank of America and J.P. Morgan are among the first banks in the country to implement the initiative, and will initially be able to provide the improved experience for payments from Australia, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.

Over 60 banks from 25 countries so far are backing the initiative, which just went live this year.

AJ McCray, Head of Global Payments Products, Bank of America, said: “Every day, millions of consumers, companies and institutions rely on Bank of America to send and receive payments that power commerce, support families and connect businesses around the world. As a leading payments provider at the center of the U.S. financial ecosystem, we understand the importance of delivering a seamless payments experience. Swift’s framework is a meaningful step forward in providing greater transparency, speed and predictability for international transfers, and we look forward to helping bring these benefits—and greater choice—to our clients.”

Andrew Smith-Plenderleith, Global Head of High Value Payments at J.P. Morgan Payments, said: “We’re proud to be working with Swift to help set a new standard for international retail payments. By improving speed and predictability in cross-border payments, this initiative gives consumers clearer visibility into when funds will arrive and what the costs will be. It’s an important step toward more consistent, transparent cross-border retail payments, and we look forward to supporting broader adoption as more banks and payment corridors join the network.”

There is significant demand in the US for cross-border financial connectivity. While the US may be known as the world’s largest source of remittances, the US receives approximately $9 billion annually in remittances from abroad, according to the World Bank, supporting US families, students and internationally-connected households.

Leigh Amaro, Chief Executive, Americas at Swift, said: “Greater transparency, speed and predictability are key to improving the cross-border payments experience. This framework is designed to deliver those benefits, and we look forward to seeing more US banks join over time, helping to extend these benefits to more consumers across the country.”

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 11,500 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 globally inclusive character of its cooperative structure. Swift’s global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres.

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