In June, Upstream won a major regional account in a competitive pitch against 12 other agencies. Upstream will serve SWIFT (the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software) in seven countries - Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Australia. This regional account will be managed in Hong Kong with Upstream reporting directly to SWIFT's Asia Pacific leadership team.SWIFT Targets Asia
More: Asia | Client News | SWIFT
In June, Upstream won a major regional account in a competitive pitch against 12 other agencies. Upstream will serve SWIFT (the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software) in seven countries - Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Australia. This regional account will be managed in Hong Kong with Upstream reporting directly to SWIFT's Asia Pacific leadership team.SWIFT 2007 Price Reductions Reach 10.4% to Date
Record traffic growth enables SWIFT to offer additional savings to its
Brussels, 13 June 2007 – SWIFT announced today that the Board has approved new price reductions worth MEUR 8 for the remainder of 2007. This new initiative, made possible by record traffic growth, benefits all segments of the SWIFT community. It Includes a 4% reduction on FIN messaging to build on the 6.4 % reduction introduced in January 2007, as well as the cancellation of entry and other administration fees to lower costs for new and existing customers.The following price reductions will take effect from 1 July 2007:
- SWIFTNet FIN non-reporting: reduction of domestic and intra-institutionprices ranging from 4% to 12%;
- SWIFTNet FIN reporting: prices for international traffic are aligned with domestic and intra-institution traffic fees, complemented by an overall reduction of 5%;
- Messaging discount for high volume users: a new discount on messaging fees ranging from 10% to 25% for institutions reaching annual messaging thresholds above MEUR 20;
- One-time entry fees to SWIFT are cancelled;
- Market Infrastructure and Member-Administer Closed User Group annual administration fees are removed.
To find out more about how the price reductions affect individual organisations, users should contact André Boico, Director, Pricing, Information Services and Analysis, SWIFT at andre.boico@swift.com.
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Note to Editors:
About SWIFT
SWIFT is the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software to over 8,100 financial institutions in 208 countries and territories. SWIFT members include banks, broker-dealers and investment managers. The broader SWIFT community also encompasses corporates as well as market infrastructures in payments, securities, treasury and trade. Over the past ten years, SWIFT message prices have been reduced over 80%, and system availability approaches 5x9 reliability — 99.999% of uptime.
For more information about this press release, please refer to our website: www.swift.com or contact the SWIFT press office:
Kara Condon
SWIFT
Tel: +32 2 655 3740
Email: kara.condon@swift.com
More: Client Releases | SWIFT
SWIFT Partnership and Solutions to Boost China Financial Infrastructure
BEIJING, 5 June 2007—In an initiative that is bolstering the management and security of financial transaction processing within China’s fast-growing financial services sector, SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is pursuing an initiative to significantly extend its business operations, services and solutions in China.SWIFT expects these measures to benefit China as it continues to reform its financial transaction processing infrastructure domestically, while cementing more robust operational links to the global financial system.
"Working more closely with our national and international communities is integral to the SWIFT2010 strategy ‘Achieve more, together,’” said Francis Vanbever, Chief Financial Officer, SWIFT. "This is particularly relevant in China where SWIFT can enable banks to play a key role as China diversifies its economic base from reliance on production of consumer goods to value-added manufacturing and services and upgrades its financial system as a consequence."
SWIFT is developing partnerships with regulators, financial institutions and corporations – all of whom can benefit from being part of the global SWIFT community by using its worldwide network and shared platform, its common standards, and its growing range of solutions. SWIFT can help them create new business opportunities and revenue streams while reducing costs, improve efficiency, and manage risk.
At the SWIFT Business Forum in Beijing on 5-6 June, over 200 representatives of China’s financial community met with 19 SWIFT experts to learn more of SWIFT’s plans for China and about opportunities for increasing the competitiveness and efficiency of their own institutions.
“As a cooperative, we work with and for our members,” said Michael Cheung, Managing Director, at SWIFT. “SWIFT is well placed to assist China’s financial community to implement a more robust and secure financial market infrastructure both domestically and internationally that will support the growing variety and volume of financial transactions occurring in China.”
Financial transactions in China have been increasing exponentially as a result of the country’s expanding industrial production, imports and exports, burgeoning trade in securities and the gradual loosening of restrictions on the value and trading of the yuan.
As China revamps its big banks allowing them to benefit from the country’s spectacular economic growth, solutions such as SWIFTNet Trade Services Utility (TSU) are creating an exciting opportunity for them to deliver real value added solutions to their corporate customers.
“With the SWIFTNet TSU platform and application, banks are now able to reduce their costs and offer more competitive supply chain services to their corporate customers,” said Jackie Keogh, Head of Supply Chain Management at SWIFT. “We are delighted that three banks in China have already signed up for this service – Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Hua Xia Bank. These early adopters from China send a strong signal about the potential for such a service from SWIFT.”
SWIFT is the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardized messaging services and interface software to nearly 8,100 financial institutions in 207 countries and territories. SWIFT members include banks, broker-dealers and investment managers. The broader SWIFT community also encompasses corporates as well as market infrastructures in payments, securities, treasury and trade.
-ENDS-
Note to Editors:
About SWIFT
SWIFT is the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software to nearly 8,100 financial institutions in 207 countries and territories. SWIFT members include banks, broker-dealers and investment managers. The broader SWIFT community also encompasses corporates as well as market infrastructures in payments, securities, treasury and trade. Over the past ten years, SWIFT message prices have been reduced over 80%, and system availability approaches 5x9 reliability — 99.999% of uptime.
For more information about this press release, please refer to our website: www.swift.com or contact the SWIFT press office:
Kara Condon
SWIFT
Tel: +32 2 655 3740
Email: kara.condon@swift.com
More: Beijng | China | Client Releases | SWIFT
SWIFT Reports Record Traffic and Strong Financial Results for 2006
Annual Report Now Available
BRUSSELS, 30 May 2007—SWIFT announced today it experienced strong growth in all major markets in 2006. A traffic increase of 13.7% and sustained financial performance have enabled SWIFT to return a total of EUR 65 million in benefits to customers.Messaging traffic increased by 13.7% to 2.86 billion messages
Messaging traffic increased by 13.7% compared to 2005, to a total of 2.86 billion messages and remains SWIFT’s largest source of revenue. Securities messages remain the major growth driver, with a 22.1% year-on-year volume increase. Payments messages were up 9.3% compared to last year, a remarkable increase for a mature market. Traffic in the Treasury market was driven by volatility in the foreign exchange markets and increased 12.8%. A new peak day of 13.6 million messages was reached on 20 December.
SWIFT returns EUR 65 million in customer benefits
The savings for the community constituted EUR 23 million in free hardware security modules, an 8% mid-year price reduction of EUR 16 million, and a rebate for the fifth consecutive year worth EUR 26 million. For the first time, the 7% rebate was applicable to all messaging services, not only FIN. Before rebate, revenue amounted to EUR 588 million, a 5.2% increase due mainly to revenue from interface sales and strong messaging traffic.
SWIFT 2010 strategy
The March 2006 Board approved the ongoing SWIFT2010 strategy, which incorporates four strategic growth thrusts: Extending client reach into Corporates and Trade Services; European harmonisation by supporting SEPA, TARGET2, Giovannini and MiFID in payments and securities; expansion in emerging markets; and establishing a presence in the pre-settlement space of securities and derivatives. The strategy has been positively received by the community and progress to date is on target.
Lázaro Campos, Chief Executive Officer, SWIFT, said, “Solid growth in 2006 enables us to put the additional resources in place to deliver on our 2010 strategy. We expect to recruit 400 people worldwide in 2007, half of which will be based at our headquarters in Belgium. With a dedicated and talented global staff and the commitment and strength of our community, we are confident we will continue to increase our share of the cooperative messaging space in an increasingly competitive market."
Francis Vanbever, Chief Financial Officer, SWIFT added, “Since 2001 we have reduced the average messaging price by 50%, while we invested heavily in technology renewal and increased resilience. This was achieved thanks to economies of scale and tight cost management. Our strong financial performance provides a solid foundation to finance future investments and reduce prices by another 50% over the next five years.” The 2006 annual report, published 8 May 2007, is now available on www.swift.com.
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Note to Editors:
About SWIFT
SWIFT is the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software to nearly 8,100 financial institutions in 207 countries and territories. SWIFT members include banks, broker-dealers and investment managers. The broader SWIFT community also encompasses corporates as well as market infrastructures in payments, securities, treasury and trade. Over the past ten years, SWIFT message prices have been reduced over 80%, and system availability approaches 5x9 reliability — 99.999% of uptime.
More: Client Releases | SWIFT

