Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
Swift is a global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.
Founded in 1973, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication replaced the existing Telex as the primary system for secure intra-bank communication and payment confirmations. Over 11 000 banks in over 200 countries are connected to SWIFT.
Simply put, SWIFT acts as a global messaging system where financial messages are sent between banks and some financial institutions according to standardised structures. This standardisation ensures correct interpretation of the message contents. Each bank that joins SWIFT gets issued a Business Identifier Code (BIC) that works like a username for that bank.
SWIFT messages are transmitted via secure lines, and there are three separate nodes of communication. So there is always an “open line” of communication via SWIFT. Each message is encrypted and there are various security protocols in place to protect the confidential information they contain.