SWIFT announced that 75 per cent of cross-border payments in its network can now reach the collecting bank within 10 minutes, exceeding the G20's target of speeding up international payments. This progress, according to external sources, has increased the efficiency of the delivery of payments, but has again raised an old problem: The faster submission does not mean that the funds have been finalized.
Ten minutes for service.
According to Charusan, who was reported to refer to the block chain commentator, this indicator of SWIFT measures the speed at which payment instructions are delivered, not the time when the liquidation of funds between banks is completed. SWIFT is still, in essence, a financial information network that informs banks that a payment needs to be processed.
Under the system of traditional correspondent banks, the collecting bank may first account its customers with pre-positioned Nostro account funds, but the actual inter-bank settlement usually takes between one and three working days. Factors affecting time include agency bank arrangements, liquidity, bank hours and compliance reviews.
XRP was compared to real-time settlement.
According to the article, the point of discussion of XRP was not to transmit payment information but to transfer value directly. Through Ripple, ODL, the participating agencies can convert the currency into XRP, transfer it through XRP Ledger and then convert it to local currency at the destination, and the process can be completed in a relatively short time.
The core selling point of this model is to release part of the funds spent across borders by reducing the reliance on pre-financing Nostro accounts. On this basis, proponents argue that the XRP is closer to the “settlement layer” tool, not just the communications layer supplement.
The last mile is still difficult.
SWIFT also mentioned that the issue of the “last kilometre” of cross-border payments has not completely disappeared. Even if the payments are delivered within minutes, insufficient mobility, compliance checks, sanctions screening and local regulatory requirements may slow the time when the recipients actually receive the funds.
Thus, according to external sources, the focus of discussions in the cross-border payment industry is shifting from “how quickly the information is transmitted” to “when the funds will actually be finalized”. Within this framework, SWIFT is more like accelerating the efficiency of communication, while XRP supporters are trying to position it as a real-time settlement supplement.