What Is SWIFT and How Does It Work
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What Is SWIFT and 
How Does It Work1 ?
ICNliTcRkO tDo UeCdTitI OMNaster title style
• SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial 
Telecommunication) is a messaging system that runs on a 
network of financial institutions. 
• It is used by thousands of banks worldwide to communicate 
information on financial transactions in a secure and 
standardized way.
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Source: www.letsdeel.com
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• SWIFT is used to communicate money transfers between 
two banks. When two banks have a relationship 
(commercial accounts with each other), the transfer is done 
as soon as the SWIFT message has been received. 
• The money from one's personal account is transferred to 
the other person's account via the banks' commercial 
accounts.
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Source: www.letsdeel.com
CBelifcokr eto S eWdIiFt TMaster title style
• Before SWIFT was introduced, banks used TELEX for 
international transactions. TELEX was a slow payment 
orders system that relied on describing every transaction 
with sentences instead of codes, which was a nightmare for 
both banks and users.
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Source: www.letsdeel.com
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• In 1973, SWIFT was founded and came up with a system of 
codes that transfer financial messages more efficiently than 
TELEX. SWIFT is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, 
since the organization didn't want to choose between 
London and New York as the major finance cities.
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Source: www.letsdeel.com
CHloicwk  dtoe esd tiht eM SaWsteIFrT t istylest setmyl ework?
• The SWIFT network doesn't actually transfer the money - it 
communicates transaction orders between institutions using 
SWIFT codes. Thanks to SWIFT, we have standardized 
IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank 
Identifier Code) formats that are used for actual funds 
transfer.
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Source: www.letsdeel.com
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• SWIFT is a cooperative, meaning it's not controlled by any 
one country. It's governed by a 25-person board of directors 
and overseen by the G-10 country central banks (Bank of 
Canada, Deutsche Bundesbank, European Central Bank, 
Banque de France, Banca d’Italia, Bank of Japan, De 
Nederlandsche Bank, Sveriges Riksbank, Swiss National 
Bank, Bank of England, USA Federal Reserve System), the 
European Central Bank, and the National Bank of Belgium.
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Source: www.letsdeel.com
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• The wide coverage of SWIFT – covering over 11,000 
institutions in more than 200 countries around the world – 
makes it an almost-universally accepted system. It counts 
central banks of countries like the US, UK, Germany, 
France, Japan, India, China, Singapore and others among 
its list of overseers.
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Source: www.businessinsider.in
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• SWIFT is owned by its members. All members pay a one-
time entry fee as well as annual support fees based on the 
level of their membership.
• SWIFT also charges end-users (that’s you!) for each 
message sent.
• Other sources of income for SWIFT are coming from 
additional services such as business intelligence, reference 
data, and compliance services.
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Source: statrys.com
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• A standard Swift payment can take anywhere from one to 
four days. The speed of transfer depends on several 
factors, including anti-fraud and anti-money laundering 
checks. Furthermore, the speed of a transaction can also 
slow if the banks you're attempting to send money through 
do not have a direct relationship.
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Source: www.makeuseof.com
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THANK YOU
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