An instant, accessible and ubiquitous platform

IMS SWIFT gpi uses the payment hub framework within IMS Payments, providing banks with a quick and cost-effective platform to adapt to the new norm of SWIFT gpi for real-time cross-border payments. Banks can now address all activities for sending international payments from instruction to final settlement to the beneficiary.

Through IMS SWIFT gpi, banks can benefit by connecting all the parties in the payment value chain in an end-to-end manner and deliver value to their customers with same-day availability of funds. Customers have access to unaltered remittance information, can track their payments at every stage and have complete transparency on fees.

Additionally, with IMS SWIFT gpi, banks can enable straight-through-processing with the internal systems. They can expose APIs to get real-time status on transactions and generate a response for each source system based on their formats. SSI and GPI directories are auto uploaded increasing the efficiency of the process. With duplicate and compliance checks performed on all incoming and outgoing transactions, based on pre-configured match criteria, banks can ensure due diligence and reduce redundancies. Banks can also reconcile GPI confirmations against original instructions and generate gpi messages from MT101/proprietary messages.

Smart routing and transaction management services

The need for improved transparency means that customers want to know the status of the payment once they’ve sent it and wish to be notified when it is has been received by the beneficiary. Banks are demanding real-time/instant payments, especially in Europe, United States, Singapore, and Australia. These countries are launching domestic payment initiatives, setting up instant payment clearing systems that are available 24×7, and offer fast turn-around SLAs with real-time confirmations.

IMS platform hosts decision trees and algorithms that engage in making routing decisions for banks concerning each payment instruction automatically. With IMS SWIFT gpi, banks can utilize SWIFT SSI, GPI directories, and with IMS routing algorithms, they can identify the receiver’s correspondent banks to qualify the sender’s correspondent bank and prioritize them based on ETA and fees.

SWIFT gpi member banks can instantly get the status of the payments – when it is sent and if it is in progress, and when it has been received. The bank’s treasury can also predict the estimated time of arrival of international payment and calculate the processing fees for the payment.

SWIFT gpi allows banks to accelerate their cross-border payments and to improve speed, transparency, and traceability. All SWIFT gpi transaction management services like gCCT credit transfers, gCOV cover payments, and gSRP stop and recall functions can be handled by the bank’s operations team using IMS SWIFT gpi.

Bringing universal payment confirmations

To enhance the customer experience for real-time cross-border payments, banks need to offer payment confirmation to the corporates for complete transparency and certainty that the funds have reached the beneficiary’s account. As businesses are becoming digital, business processes and supply chains rely on payment confirmations – without it, sellers may not release the goods. Payment confirmation is a crucial step in the cross-border payments journey.

With IMS SWIFT gpi, banks can now send the payment confirmation (by January 2020) for MT 199 and APIs. There are three ways in which payment confirmations can be sent to the tracker:

1. Automated MT 199 confirmations: All SWIFT users can confirm payments by sending an interbank payment message (MT 199).
2. API calls: A fast and efficient way to send updates on payment confirmation is by using API calls to confirm payments.
3. Batch confirmations: To make things even easier, ECS Fin will be using SWIFT’s CSV format to implement universal confirmations. With batch confirmations, customers can reduce the implementation effort with a simple file export at the end of the day.

Extend SWIFT gpi tracker to corporate customers

With IMS SWIFT gpi, banks can allow corporate customers to track their cross-border payments using the online banking portal. The platform connects to the SWIFT Tracker and gives customers a transparent view into the status of the payment. The smart routing feature enables the corporates to view routing options for international payments and make a decision to select the best route based on two criteria – whether they would like an early settlement of the payment or whether they wish to save on the transaction fees. By initiating queries or free form messages addressed to the banks, corporates can easily track the status of any international payment.