Swift has unveiled an enhanced Case Management solution designed to streamline the investigation of delayed cross-border payments — an operational pain point that is costing the global financial industry more than $1.6 billion annually.
Swift cross-border payment investigations
The new tool promises not only to improve resolution times by up to 80%, but also to deliver over $600 million in annual cost savings through automation, standardisation and enhanced transparency.
What Took So Long?
At the core of this advancement is Swift’s use of ISO 20022 rich data formats and the Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR), which provide a consistent, transparent view of payment flows across disparate networks and institutions.
While Swift has long been associated with improving speed and security in global payments, this initiative focuses on the less visible, labour-intensive layer of resolving exceptions and bottlenecks.
Delays in cross-border transactions, though increasingly rare, typically occur when payment instructions are incomplete or inconsistent.
Resolving these issues can take up to ten business days, with investigations often involving multiple intermediaries and significant manual effort.
Some of the world’s largest banks are spending more than $20 million per year in associated penalties and resource costs alone.
Standardising the Investigation Process
By centralising and standardising the investigation process, Swift’s Case Management platform eliminates a significant number of manual touchpoints.
It also allows all parties involved in a transaction to collaborate through a single digital interface, reducing friction and enhancing end-to-end visibility.
Shirish Wadivkar, Global Head of Transaction Management at Swift, emphasised the broader implications: “This is not just about reducing cost — it’s about meeting the expectations of customers who demand real-time transparency and rapid resolution.
It’s also a compelling demonstration of how ISO 20022 data can drive efficiency and interoperability across an increasingly complex financial ecosystem.”
The enhanced service has already been trialled successfully by over 30 global financial institutions, and is now available across Swift’s global network.
Crucially, its functionality is network-agnostic, meaning that any payment carrying a UETR — regardless of underlying infrastructure — can benefit from the system.
Industry leaders have welcomed the development.
Isabel Schmidt of BNY described the platform as a “key step in enhancing the investigations process and improving overall client satisfaction,” while Santander’s PagoNxt CEO Juan Olaizola highlighted the dual benefit of operational efficiency and liquidity optimisation.
ABSA’s Larize Nel noted the platform’s orchestration capabilities in improving data quality, speed, and accuracy.
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