Summary
Swift's new cross-border payment framework, adopted by Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase among ~60 banks in 25 countries, positions traditional banks in the multi-rail future of payments. By improving speed, predictability and pricing visibility, Swift aims to make cross-border payments feel more like local payments, while suggesting tokenized deposits as a digital currency option many banks favor over stablecoins due to a perception of less risk.
Key Points
- The adoption: BoA and JPMorgan Chase are among ~60 banks in 25 countries that have adopted Swift's new framework, four months after it was floated. The framework supports smaller transactions such as remittances, near-real-time settlement and a transaction tracker, with a fixed fee as an alternative to variable rates for correspondent banks.
- The customer experience: For sending banks, customers can view the cost, exchange rate and estimated processing time, plus a tracker to see transaction status. Receiving banks credit customers in near real-time where local markets allow. BoA's AJ McCray: "This allows a cross-border payment to look and feel a bit more like a local payment."
- The competitive pressure: Non-banks have made inroads into small-volume international payments, many using stablecoins or stablecoin technology to cut time and costs. Correspondent banks face competition from digital transfer apps such as Visa Direct and Mastercard Move, and digital assets such as fintech-issued stablecoins.
- The tokenized deposits angle: Swift has built a blockchain-based ledger with an initial use case of tokenized deposits. Swift is suggesting tokenized deposits as an option to improve cross-border payments, arguing that "tokenized commercial bank money gives banks a pragmatic path to introduce new digital capabilities without moving away from well understood and regulated deposit models."
- The multi-rail reality: About 40% of banks are either live or in some form of development of a blockchain-powered cross-border payment product (American Banker analysis). Cross-border payments are complex and not amenable to a single method — a mix of traditional currency, stablecoins, tokenized deposits and other options will be necessary to compete.
- The scale advantage: Swift's network of 11,000 banks immediately brings scale and the simplicity of using existing fiat currency. Swift and its network have the compliance, AML and sanctions-screening infrastructure and bank connectivity that regulators and treasurers trust.
- The stablecoin context: Stablecoins totaled $135 billion out of $44 trillion in cross-border payments in 2025, or 0.31% (FCX Intelligence). Stablecoin rails still lack the compliance, AML and sanctions-screening features at scale for regulated, high-value flows.
- The significance: The framework reflects the competitive pressure on traditional correspondent banking and the strategic positioning of banks in the multi-rail future of payments. By combining its network scale with tokenized deposit options, Swift is giving banks a path to introduce digital capabilities while staying rooted in regulated commercial bank money — a middle path between legacy rails and stablecoin-based systems.