SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication. It is a co-operative society registered in Brussels and owned by about 250 banks in Europe and North America. Swift system enables the member-banks to transact between themselves quickly international payments, statements and other messages connected with international banking.
Transmission of messages takes place within seconds, and therefore, this method is economical as well as time saving.
Advantages of SWIFT
SWIFT provides the following advantages to the local banking community:
1. It provides a reliable, time tested, method of sending and receiving messages from a vast number of banks in a large number of locations around the world.
2. Reliability and accuracy is further enhanced by the built-in authentication facilities.
3. Message relay is instantaneous enabling the counter-party to respond immediately, if not prevented by time differences.
4. Access is available to a vast number of banks globally for launching new cross-border initiatives.
5. Since standard formats are used, matter conveyed will be clear and free of ambiguities.
