SWIFT, the global network that connects over 11,500 banks across more than 200 countries, announced on Thursday that it is rolling out a major new framework to make international money transfers faster, cheaper, and more predictable for ordinary people and small businesses.
At its core, the new framework will define clear rules for retail payments to ensure upfront transparency on cost, full-value delivery, end-to-end visibility, and instant settlement where available. The sender and recipient will know the fees, the exchange rate, and the delivery time before the transaction is even confirmed.
More than 25 banks have committed to processing payments under this framework by June, covering payment corridors across Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, Germany, India, Pakistan, Spain, Thailand, the UK and the US.
2 March 2026
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In India, major banks including SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are among the early participants. More than 50 banks around the world have signed up to the payments scheme overall.
Why Does This Matter for India?
India is one of the world's largest recipients of international remittances, money sent home by Indians working abroad. Of the initial launch markets, Bangladesh, China, Germany, India and Pakistan are all in the top 10 countries for remittances received. This means millions of families who rely on money sent from abroad stand to benefit directly.
Axis Bank's Executive Director Neeraj Gambhir said the initiative would give customers "a seamless remittance experience for their retail cross-border payments which is completely digital, faster, predictable and convenient to use with transparency on charges."
SWIFT's network already performs reasonably well by global standards. Around 75% of payments over the SWIFT network reach destination banks within 10 minutes or less, which is ahead of the G20's target.
However, the new framework addresses gaps in front-end processing and the final domestic settlement leg, the parts of the journey that still cause delays even after the bank-to-bank transfer is complete.
The Bigger Picture
This initiative is part of a broader push by global leaders to modernise cross-border payments. The G20 has set targets for international payments to become faster, cheaper, and more transparent by 2027. SWIFT's new framework is explicitly designed to help the financial community meet those goals.
SWIFT is also pursuing a parallel, longer-term project. It is adding a blockchain-based shared ledger to its infrastructure, with an initial focus on enabling 24/7 real-time cross-border payments and facilitating the movement of tokenised value across its network.
More payment routes are expected to go live by the end of 2026, scaling the benefits to markets globally.
