Hang Seng Bank onboards SWIFT platform for faster cross-border payments

Payments can be credited within minutes.

Hang Seng Bank has gone live on SWIFT’s global payments innovation (gpi) service, leading to over 160 banks globally signing up for the service.

SWIFT gpi facilitates faster payments to end-beneficiaries, with most payments being credited within a matter of minutes.

“With SWIFT gpi, our customers will benefit from a more efficient and transparent payment process as part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our cash management capabilities,” said Hang Seng head of commercial banking Donald Lam.

This comes on the heels of ten Chinese banks that have earlier onboarded SWIFT’s gpi which includes three of the country’s large state lenders Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

A consortium of Australian, Chinese, Singapore and Thai banks are planning to launch a cross-border real-time payments service for Asia Pacific region powered by SWIFT’s global payments innovation (gpi) initiative, according to a press release. Participating banks includes Singapore’s DBS, Australia’s ANZ, CBA and NAB, Thailand’s Bangkok Bank and Kasikorn Bank, China’s ICBC.

Launched in January 2017, the SWIFT gpi buoys cross-border payments in over 350 country corridors through its enhanced business rules and a secure tracking database in the cloud accessible via APIs allowing businesses to grow their international footprint, improve supplier relationships and achieve greater treasury efficiencies.