Swift‘s Push for Richer Data Aims to Dissolve Cross-Border Payment Friction
NEW YORK – Sept. 29, 2025 – Swift is spearheading an industry-wide effort to leverage richer, more structured data to dramatically improve the speed, clarity, and efficiency of cross-border payments. The initiative focuses on incorporating detailed details – including ultimate originators and beneficiaries, remittance data, purpose codes, and standardized identifiers like Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) – into payment messaging.
Historically, cross-border payments have been plagued by inefficiencies due to incomplete or ambiguous data, requiring extensive manual checks and remediation by financial institutions. However, the adoption of richer data formats promises to automate these processes, lowering operational risk and compliance overhead, especially in high-risk corridors.
The benefits extend beyond cost savings.When data arrives in a consistent format, intermediaries can process payments with fewer manual interventions, enabling faster crediting of funds and more predictable delivery windows. Some payment corridors that previously took two to three days are now approaching same-day settlement. Transparency is also improving, with tracking tools modeled on parcel-shipping interfaces providing treasurers with real-time visibility into payment status.
Despite the potential, the success of this initiative hinges on consistent interpretation of the data by all participants – banks, corporates, payment service providers, and regulators. A weak link in the chain, such as a supplier’s system truncating remittance information, can negate the benefits of downstream automation.
The push for richer data is a key theme at the upcoming B2B PYMNTS 2025 event, “B2B.AI: The Architecture of Clever Money Movement,” taking place Oct. 6 to 31.
