Lloyds Banking Group is making instant, cross-border payments possible, thanks to a partnership with global secure financial messaging services provider SWIFT.
The U.K.-based bank announced it is the first bank to go live with SWIFT’s gpi Instant Connection, a new service that helps consumers and businesses send money in seconds across the globe.
gpi, which stands for Global Payments Initiative, was launched in 2017 to facilitate international payments. Since then, SWIFT has amassed more than 4,000 financial institution clients who collectively use gpi to send more than $300 billion each day in more than 150 currencies.
“At Lloyds Bank we strive to continually evolve and create innovative solutions for our clients,” said Ed Thurman, Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking at Lloyds Banking Group. “The gpi Instant service is set to be a game changer in cross-border payments and we are very excited to be the first bank globally to offer the service here into the U.K.”
The new service leverages SWIFT gpi, SWIFT’s high-speed cross-border rails, and connects with a country’s own real-time infrastructure. In Lloyds’ case, SWIFT gpi is connecting with the U.K.’s Faster Payments, the region’s own real-time payments initiative.
“We developed gpi Instant with our community through responsible innovation and equal emphasis on four core needs — speed, security, transparency and compliance,” said David Watson, Chief Strategy Officer at SWIFT. “We look forward to continuing our work with market infrastructures and financial institutions to bring the benefits of seamless cross-border payments to customers across the globe.”
The launch with Lloyds comes after SWIFT tested out the service earlier this year in a pilot with Lloyds, Barclays, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS, Wells Fargo, and BBVA. The real-time payments capabilities are part of SWIFT’s new strategy to retool cross-border infrastructure to facilitate instant and frictionless transactions.
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