SWIFT launches enhanced gpi service for corporates

BRUSSELS: SWIFT, a global leading provider of secure financial messaging services, has announced the further enhancement of its gpi service with the full go-live of SWIFT gpi for corporates.

The capability is designed and built in conjunction with banks and corporates which enables multi-banked corporates to initiate and track payments across multiple banks directly from their treasury and payment systems. More than 50 of the world’s largest companies – including LVMH, Microsoft and Petronas – have already signed up to the service.

The go-live follows a successful pilot with 22 corporates and banks – including Airbus, Booking.com, General Electric, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered Bank – that collaborated to scope the project, define the standard and business practices, and test the functionality within their treasury systems.

While corporates are already able to check the status of gpi payments through each of their individual banking partners’ portals, SWIFT gpi for corporates addresses the needs of multi-banked corporates, affording them a single centralised and standardised view across all their banking partners. The service allows corporates to track all their payments in real-time, facilitating more accurate reconciliation, and preventing costly and time-consuming investigations.

SWIFT gpi for corporates allows banks to give users visibility, transparency and control of their entire payment flows and provides them with full transparency over fees and FX so that they can identify the most efficient ways to send their payments around the world. Furthermore, it relieves corporates of the need to adapt their systems for each individual bank they work with.

In developing the service, SWIFT worked with banks and corporates as well as with leading treasury software providers including, Bellin, FIS, Kyriba and SAP, all of which have integrated SWIFT gpi for corporates into their applications.

Onur Ozan, head of Mena and Turkey at SWIFT, said: “The Middle East is a major global trade hub both for regional and multinational conglomerates. SWIFT gpi for Corporates offers speed, certainty and a seamless cross-border payments experience for corporations that operate across different markets and time zones and in different currencies. We are delighted to go live with the new service in the region.”

Olivier Valanchauskas, head of Airbus Treasury Platforms, said: “An increasing number of banks are offering gpi tracking through their individual portals which works well for companies that only work with one bank, but not so much for a multinational business dealing with multiple banks. SWIFT gpi for corporates solves this by creating a centralised view of multi-bank information, enabling us to track our payments all in one place.”

Peter Kim, senior manager, Treasury Technology at Google, said: “It is great to see the recent success and adoption of gpi by financial institutions. However, prior to gpi for corporates, SCORE members were required to implement gpi directly with each bank, which limited the value of having direct SWIFT connectivity. Thanks to the launch of gpi for corporates, we will now be able to directly leverage our SWIFT infrastructure to receive the full benefits of gpi. We look forward to getting started!”

Marc Delbaere, head of Corporates and Trade at SWIFT, said: “gpi for corporates is the result of ground-breaking collaboration between corporates and banks to revolutionise cross-border payments for corporates. It creates a rule book which standardises and centralises their multi-bank information, providing unrivalled visibility, as well as saving them time and money. Over 50 corporates and banks, including nine of the ten top cash management banks, have already signed up, and we expect this number to grow significantly in the coming months.”