The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communication (SWIFT) messaging system, originally set up as a neutral, technical means of facilitating secure messaging between banks, has over the past 20 years become increasingly political, and this is driving nations around the world to develop alternatives to SWIFT.
Aidan J. Simardone explains that the first major challenge to SWIFT’s image as a neutral service came in 2006, when it was revealed that SWIFT was providing data on bank transactions to the CIA and U.S. Treasury, surveillance that continues to this day. In 2012, Iran was kicked out of SWIFT, followed by North Korea in 2017 and Russia in 2022.
These actions, and the general problem of basing all international transactions on intermediary dollar holdings, have led to a proliferation of new systems for bank communication. Simardone mentions these developments:
In 2017, Russia launched its System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), which now includes 177 financial institutions in two dozen countries.
In 2015, China launched its Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which interoperates with SWIFT while providing its own independent messaging capability. It now handles over $15 trillion of RMB transactions annually.
In 2018, discussion around developing BRICS Pay began, and it was a subject of discussion at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024.
In 2022, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) initiative, allowing real-time payment systems like phone apps to make direct transfers among accounts in the different countries, without relying on SWIFT.
Through unpredictable tariffs and broad, ever-expanding sanctions, the United States is perhaps the major catalyst for the development of alternatives to the trans-Atlantic financial orbit.