Name: Five ways cross-border payment systems have improved
Uploaded: 2022-01-28T15:20:22.671Z
Description: When cross-border payments don’t go smoothly, it creates additional administrative work and can damage business relations. Ben Woodcock, payment market expert for SWIFT, explains how that’s changing.

Five ways cross-border payment systems have improved.vtt

English

{{00:00:07}}
What I'm hoping to do is share
a few insights from my role

{{00:00:16}}
as the payment market expert,
covering the Nordic region.

{{00:00:19}}
So let's look at five ways corporate
payments have really progressed.

{{00:00:24}}
And how you, if you work in
corporate payments or you're working

{{00:00:27}}
in a bank, trying to facilitate
corporate customers, can really

{{00:00:30}}
benefit from these improvements.

{{00:00:32}}
So let's just talk quickly
about domestic payments.

{{00:00:34}}
Domestic payments are traditionally
pretty straightforward in terms

{{00:00:37}}
of the experience that you get.

{{00:00:39}}
Clearing a settlement of funds
happens in near real time for the

{{00:00:43}}
most part, depending on jurisdiction,
but let's just say in near real time,

{{00:00:48}}
giving you or giving corporates in
general instant access to funds.

{{00:00:52}}
Now cross-border world is becoming
fast, becoming increasingly fast,

{{00:00:57}}
as I mentioned at the beginning.

{{00:00:58}}
And it's becoming a similarly
seamless experience in many cases.

{{00:01:04}}
But there are added complexities
that you're all familiar with.

{{00:01:06}}
Moving money, moving funds through
different regulatory jurisdictions

{{00:01:10}}
comes with its own challenges.

{{00:01:11}}
The funds there needed to be converted.

{{00:01:13}}
You have to account for funds
arriving with the bank during the

{{00:01:17}}
opening hours of the given time
zone, which may not be your own.

{{00:01:21}}
So these are all kinds of headaches
perhaps that you might feel if you were

{{00:01:25}}
involved in these types of payments.

{{00:01:27}}
We simply live in this reality
now where payments can be

{{00:01:29}}
tracked and traced again.

{{00:01:31}}
And I'll go back to this theme
at the click of a button.

{{00:01:33}}
So that's really benefit number
one, that you can take from a cross

{{00:01:38}}
border payment developments, into
your own back office to really

{{00:01:43}}
improve the efficiency of the way
that you are administering payments.

{{00:01:53}}
You pay an institution for
services rendered and they receive

{{00:01:57}}
potentially less than the funds
that you have sent to them.

{{00:02:01}}
Has this happened to you?

{{00:02:02}}
If this has happened, you then know the
headache that you have to go through

{{00:02:05}}
to then try and reconcile that, or
they need to try and reconcile such a

{{00:02:10}}
mismatch between the invoice and the
payment they've received, you as a

{{00:02:13}}
sender needs to send additional funds.

{{00:02:15}}
And it really does become problematic.

{{00:02:18}}
But this is why full transparency and
fees and exchange rates is absolutely

{{00:02:22}}
key to keep what we might think of
as the wheels of trade in motion.

{{00:02:27}}
Now, I'm happy to say, and this has
been the case for a number of years

{{00:02:31}}
now, it's possible to send cross
border payments over SWIFT, utilizing

{{00:02:35}}
global payments innovation kind
of ecosystem with full visibility

{{00:02:39}}
over bank fees and FX rates.

{{00:02:42}}
All parties can therefore
manage finances and manage

{{00:02:45}}
relationships accordingly.

{{00:02:47}}
So decision-making becomes
easier, faster, better, any

{{00:02:53}}
superlative you can use for that.

{{00:02:55}}
Ultimately increased transparency is
a good thing for corporate customers

{{00:03:00}}
sending cross border payments,
retail customers even sending cross

{{00:03:03}}
border payments, because none of
us mind paying for services, but we

{{00:03:08}}
definitely do mind a little bit more
if we are unsure about where the

{{00:03:12}}
fees are going to whom and for what.

{{00:03:14}}
So GPI allows you to pull back the
curtain and see real transparency.

{{00:03:22}}
Let's think about that, again,
remittance information piece.

{{00:03:27}}
I can't say that payment and
invoice reconciliation is

{{00:03:30}}
particularly glamorous, right?

{{00:03:32}}
As many of you will be much more
aware than I am, but it is of the

{{00:03:35}}
most utmost importance to corporate
back office administration.

{{00:03:40}}
The layer of complexity that is
really brought to the corporate back

{{00:03:44}}
office by potentially receiving or,
and sending thousands of payments

{{00:03:50}}
a day can, again, be a headache.

{{00:03:52}}
But automatic reconciliation tools
alleviate that headache, right?

{{00:03:57}}
It's like popping ibuprofen when
you've got a headache, it really

{{00:03:59}}
does kind of help that subside.

{{00:04:01}}
However, what happens when remittance
information for those SWIFT geeks

{{00:04:06}}
among you like I am, field 70, is what
happens if that is altered or changed

{{00:04:11}}
throughout the payment chain, by any
of the institutions within the chain?

{{00:04:15}}
Well, that means that
you can't do automatic

{{00:04:17}}
reconciliation, or struggle to.

{{00:04:20}}
So maybe the payment ends up in
a manual queue and exceptions

{{00:04:23}}
to you that you then have to
go in and deal with manually.

{{00:04:26}}
This takes up time, operations time,
administrative time and brainpower.

{{00:04:31}}
So no matter what you send in the
remittance information field, it

{{00:04:34}}
will be received by your counterpart.

{{00:04:37}}
Now they receive it, they leverage
automated tools, they know that

{{00:04:41}}
you've sent the funds, they know that
you've send the right amount of funds.

{{00:04:44}}
There'll be no questions
brought to you about where's the

{{00:04:46}}
payment, because they haven't
seen it automatically reconciled

{{00:04:49}}
because it's hit a manual queue.

{{00:04:51}}
And ultimately their time, your time,
everyone's time is freed up to deal

{{00:04:55}}
with things that can help generate
revenue rather than help alleviate

{{00:04:59}}
these kinds of administrative burdens.

{{00:05:06}}
Let's think about mistakes, right?

{{00:05:09}}
We all make mistakes.

{{00:05:11}}
And when you are dealing with
figures in the millions of dollars,

{{00:05:16}}
mistakes can be costly and it's
very, very important to act.

{{00:05:21}}
To minimize the amount of damage
that can be caused by a mistake

{{00:05:28}}
in some of the places I've
worked in the past, they might

{{00:05:30}}
pull that a fat finger, right?

{{00:05:31}}
You press the wrong number,
send the payment out and you

{{00:05:34}}
realise, ah, no, that was wrong.

{{00:05:36}}
Or any other reasons, broad stakes
in general, there's myriad reasons.

{{00:05:41}}
Well now in cross-border payments,
if you suspect there's been fraud

{{00:05:46}}
or there's been a mistake, your
bank on your behalf, if you're a

{{00:05:50}}
corporate customer, or a retail
customer, can initiate a stop

{{00:05:54}}
on that payment immediately.

{{00:05:56}}
That payment, whether it's with
the beneficiary or any of the

{{00:05:59}}
intermediaries, is able then to be
requested to be returned, but most

{{00:06:05}}
importantly, the tracking number or
just the payment, the number that

{{00:06:09}}
SWIFT uses to track the payment
for transparency and traceability

{{00:06:12}}
elements will be banned from
traveling over the SWIFT network

{{00:06:15}}
until a resolution has put in place.

{{00:06:17}}
So you can have confidence that if you
do make a mistake, your counterpart

{{00:06:22}}
banks or similar can request through
the network that the payment no longer

{{00:06:26}}
continues traveling and is recalled.

{{00:06:32}}
We as individuals experience
and receive confirmations

{{00:06:36}}
about everything every day.

{{00:06:38}}
When you send the message to your
friends, you get a little blue tick

{{00:06:42}}
to say that they've received it.

{{00:06:45}}
Read receipts are very common.

{{00:06:47}}
Even if you do anything online,
you get a receipt to say,

{{00:06:51}}
yes, this has been confirmed.

{{00:06:52}}
This has been received, et cetera.

{{00:06:54}}
The benefit of this really is that
the supply chain is improved because

{{00:06:58}}
first and foremost, not only are
the payments coming with a final

{{00:07:01}}
confirmation, but they're also
coming in a very, very quick, less

{{00:07:05}}
than two business days at latest.

{{00:07:07}}
Better business relationships,
because we reduced the need

{{00:07:10}}
for chasing missing payments.

{{00:07:12}}
These payments are becoming
more seamless through

{{00:07:15}}
these types of actions.

{{00:07:17}}
The fact that you can have built in
processes to further understand when

{{00:07:20}}
you've got the funds and then what
you can do with the funds once you've

{{00:07:23}}
had payments credited to your account.

{{00:07:26}}
This was something that was brought in
last year and it is continuing to build

{{00:07:30}}
up steam, but ultimately, like I say,
I want to say thank you to FIS who have

{{00:07:34}}
made this a reality and for corporate.

{{00:07:37}}
This is really an amazing thing to
be certain that payments have been

{{00:07:40}}
credited to either yourself or to
a counterpart supplier, maybe who

{{00:07:45}}
you've been trying to send funds to.

What I'm hoping to do is share
a few insights from my role

as the payment market expert,
covering the Nordic region.

So let's look at five ways corporate
payments have really progressed.

And how you, if you work in
corporate payments or you're working

in a bank, trying to facilitate
corporate customers, can really

So let's just talk quickly
about domestic payments.

Domestic payments are traditionally
pretty straightforward in terms

Clearing a settlement of funds
happens in near real time for the

most part, depending on jurisdiction,
but let's just say in near real time,

giving you or giving corporates in
general instant access to funds.

Now cross-border world is becoming
fast, becoming increasingly fast,

And it's becoming a similarly
seamless experience in many cases.

But there are added complexities
that you're all familiar with.

Moving money, moving funds through
different regulatory jurisdictions

You have to account for funds
arriving with the bank during the

opening hours of the given time
zone, which may not be your own.

So these are all kinds of headaches
perhaps that you might feel if you were

We simply live in this reality
now where payments can be

And I'll go back to this theme
at the click of a button.

So that's really benefit number
one, that you can take from a cross

border payment developments, into
your own back office to really

improve the efficiency of the way
that you are administering payments.

You pay an institution for
services rendered and they receive

potentially less than the funds
that you have sent to them.

If this has happened, you then know the
headache that you have to go through

to then try and reconcile that, or
they need to try and reconcile such a

mismatch between the invoice and the
payment they've received, you as a

But this is why full transparency and
fees and exchange rates is absolutely

key to keep what we might think of
as the wheels of trade in motion.

Now, I'm happy to say, and this has
been the case for a number of years

now, it's possible to send cross
border payments over SWIFT, utilizing

global payments innovation kind
of ecosystem with full visibility

All parties can therefore
manage finances and manage

So decision-making becomes
easier, faster, better, any

Ultimately increased transparency is
a good thing for corporate customers

sending cross border payments,
retail customers even sending cross

border payments, because none of
us mind paying for services, but we

definitely do mind a little bit more
if we are unsure about where the

So GPI allows you to pull back the
curtain and see real transparency.

Let's think about that, again,
remittance information piece.

I can't say that payment and
invoice reconciliation is

As many of you will be much more
aware than I am, but it is of the

most utmost importance to corporate
back office administration.

The layer of complexity that is
really brought to the corporate back

office by potentially receiving or,
and sending thousands of payments

But automatic reconciliation tools
alleviate that headache, right?

It's like popping ibuprofen when
you've got a headache, it really

However, what happens when remittance
information for those SWIFT geeks

among you like I am, field 70, is what
happens if that is altered or changed

throughout the payment chain, by any
of the institutions within the chain?

Well, that means that
you can't do automatic

So maybe the payment ends up in
a manual queue and exceptions

to you that you then have to
go in and deal with manually.

This takes up time, operations time,
administrative time and brainpower.

So no matter what you send in the
remittance information field, it

Now they receive it, they leverage
automated tools, they know that

you've sent the funds, they know that
you've send the right amount of funds.

There'll be no questions
brought to you about where's the

payment, because they haven't
seen it automatically reconciled

And ultimately their time, your time,
everyone's time is freed up to deal

with things that can help generate
revenue rather than help alleviate

And when you are dealing with
figures in the millions of dollars,

mistakes can be costly and it's
very, very important to act.

To minimize the amount of damage
that can be caused by a mistake

in some of the places I've
worked in the past, they might

You press the wrong number,
send the payment out and you

Or any other reasons, broad stakes
in general, there's myriad reasons.

Well now in cross-border payments,
if you suspect there's been fraud

or there's been a mistake, your
bank on your behalf, if you're a

corporate customer, or a retail
customer, can initiate a stop

That payment, whether it's with
the beneficiary or any of the

intermediaries, is able then to be
requested to be returned, but most

importantly, the tracking number or
just the payment, the number that

SWIFT uses to track the payment
for transparency and traceability

Best Practice

 When cross-border payments don’t go smoothly, it creates additional administrative work and can damage business relations. Ben Woodcock, payment market expert for SWIFT, explains how that’s changing.

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small_Ben Woodcock.jpg

thumbnail_Ben Woodcock.jpg

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Ben Woodcock.jpg

Ben Woodcock

Payment market expert 

Discover what capabilities enable corporates to quickly find out where a cross-border payment is at any point.

Chapter 1: How payments are more easily traced

Learn how to make everything clear from top to bottom.

Chapter 2: Transparency on fees and costs

Keeping all the information you need in one place helps you to have more control over international payments.

Chapter 3: Preserving original remittance information

End-to-end traceability means your bank can request a stop on a suspect or erroneous payments anytime. See how it works here. 

Chapter 4: The ability to recall payments

Most cross-border payments now come with a credit confirmation or notification of rejection. 