Money’s the honey for Swift global payments innovation challenge
Euro a star
Swift is offering funding of up to €200,000 for the two winning fintech finalists of its industry challenge to develop new overlay services that use its global payments innovation (gpi) platform.
The winners will work with banks on collaborative concepts that solve additional industry challenges in cross-border payments on top of gpi.
As reported previously, gpi has been gaining traction since its launch earlier this year. It promises to deliver greater speed, transparency and end-to-end tracking in international payments. Swift calls gpi the biggest overhaul of the cross-border payments system since it was first established in the 1970’s to replace the Telex. Earlier this month, four Australian banks went live or were planning to implement gpi.
To bolster gpi, this new challenge will help solve “incremental challenges faced by corporate treasurers”. These services can include, for example, enhanced invoice presentment and reconciliation to facilitate financial supply chains, exchange of supply chain documentation to improve global trade, exchange and interactive enquiry of account and processing conditions to improve end-to-end straight through processing, and providing additional party and transaction information to support compliance and sanctions screening of cross-border payments.
Wim Raymaekers, Swift’s head of banking market and gpi programme manager, says: “Rather than develop solutions in silo, companies, banks and Swift included, should open APIs to an ecosystem of partners.”
Five firms will be invited to a gpi Industry challenge workshop in Singapore on 13-14 September 2017, where they will receive coaching from experts and be in direct contact with 30 gpi member banks.
Two winners will be selected and receive up to €100,000 each to further develop their concept over a three-month period with banks and Swift, getting exposure to the financial industry, and be presented at Sibos in Toronto in October 2017.
You can apply for the challenge here.
