Sibos 2008 - Monday - Inclusion

SWIFT benefits for coporates are clear but the practicalities are being defined

When SWIFT opened up its messaging services and network to corporates, it was initially aimed at the top 2000 global organisations. The cost of hardware, service charges and bank fees, along with the considerable project costs and time to implement the services ensured that only the largest corporate organisations could justify the investment and benefit from the change.

However, the fact that the SWIFT for Corporates forum even exists is testament to the changing role of SWIFT for corporates. Now that the benefits of communications via SWIFTNet have become a lot clearer to corporates, namely helping them  to achieve rapid straight-through-processing (STP) of payments and statement information as well as cost reduction by rationalising banking relationships and bank accounts, corporates are considering their options. 

Nevertheless, corporates are still facing a number of challenges . These include choosing a solution which can integrate with all of their business applications to minimise costs and also considering the efficiency of all corporate-to-bank communications rather than just treasury payments and FX.

However, as more corporates make decisions on these issues it will be interesting to see how many opt for direct access and how many choose to outsource the service through a SWIFT bureau, which can manage, host and implement the SWIFTNet connection for them. I will be interested in finding out more about how banks are treating the issue at Sibos.