- SWIFT correspondent banks
No single bank maintains accounts everywhere. When two institutions lack a direct relationship, they call on an intermediary—a correspondent bank—that holds “nostro” and “vostro” accounts for each side. The originating bank debits its nostro at the correspondent, the correspondent credits … Read more - SWIFT Go for small payments
Sending a modest invoice to a designer in Berlin or reimbursing a supplier for sample materials in Seoul used to feel out of proportion to the amount involved. Traditional SWIFT wires charged the same fees and took the same two-day … Read more - SWIFT GPI for faster tracking
The SWIFT network has been the backbone of international payments for fifty years, but until recently it felt as sluggish and opaque as sending a letter by sea. Funds disappeared for days, correspondent banks clipped undisclosed fees, and only a … Read more - SWIFT codes vs. BIC codes
When you fill out an international payment form, the bank invariably demands a string of eight or eleven characters. Some websites call it a SWIFT code, others ask for a BIC. The two labels appear side by side so often … Read more - Understanding SWIFT transfers
International business still relies on a messaging backbone created half a century ago. SWIFT—the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication—does not hold or move funds itself. Instead it provides a secure, standardised language that more than 11 000 institutions use … Read more
