Six Spanish Banks Join SWIFT gpi For Cross-Border Payments

SWIFT announced Thursday (March 21) that six Spanish banks, representing 85 percent of the cross-border payments market in Spain, have adopted SWIFT global payments innovation or gpi.

In a press release, SWIFT said with SWIFT gpi the cross-border payment transaction experience is greatly improved, with speed and transparency increasing. SWIFT gpi enables banks to conduct end-to-end tracking of the cross-border payment.  According to SWIFT, the six banks to adopt SWIFT gpi are Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, Bankinter, BBVA, Caixabank, and Grupo Cooperativo Cajamar. All are live on the service and are actively using SWIFT gpi for their cross-border payments.

“SWIFT gpi is the new norm for cross-border payments, delivering on the expectations of both the banks and their customers. We are very proud of the value that gpi delivers to the financial industry,” said Juan Carlos Botrán, head of SWIFT Iberia, in the press release. “We look forward to launching a series of new functionalities, including pre-validation and case resolution, and to announce the results of our proof-of-concept work linking SWIFT gpi to eCommerce and instant payments platforms. All of this will help us improve both the end client experience and processing efficiency even further. On behalf of SWIFT, I would like to thank all gpi banks, and especially the Spanish gpi banks, for leading the way in making gpi the new standard.”

According to SWIFT, hundreds of thousands of cross-border payments amounting to more than $300 billion are sent each day using the new gpi standard. Payments are made typically within minutes but can take seconds in some cases. Last year more than $40 trillion was transferred over SWIFT gpi, with cross-border messages using gpi reaching 56 percent, a year-over-year increase of 270 percent. More than 3,500 banks, accounting for 85 percent of SWIFT’s total payments traffic, have committed to adopting gpi.

“SWIFT gpi represents a major improvement in the international payments experience, which has traditionally been difficult to keep track of. The improvements to speed and traceability are significant, and, combined with the upcoming launch of the pre-validation service, deliver the required reliability and transparency to a process that was previously complex and lacking in transparency,” said Miguel Prado, head of treasury at Endesa, in the press release.