SWIFT

Secure financial messaging infrastructure used by banks and other financial-market participants to exchange structured financial instructions and information.

Plain English

What is Swift?

Swift is a secure way for banks and other financial institutions to send financial messages to each other.

The easiest way to understand it is this:

Swift carries the message. The financial institutions handle the money.

Imagine Bank A needs to tell Bank B:

“Please pay £50,000 to this account.”

Swift provides the secure messaging infrastructure that allows Bank A to send that instruction to Bank B in a structured form that financial systems can understand and process.

The message may relate to a payment, but the Swift message is not the money itself. Swift describes itself as a secure messaging system that helps financial institutions send payment instructions, while the actual transfer of funds takes place through banks, fintechs and other institutions. [1]

One important thing: Swift does not move the money

This is probably the most important thing to understand about Swift.

Swift is not a bank. [1]

It does not hold the customer’s money and it does not itself transfer funds from one bank account to another.

Instead, it carries financial information and instructions between institutions. [1]

Simple example

A customer asks their bank to send money overseas.

The bank may send a Swift message containing the relevant payment details and instructions.

Swift provides the secure messaging route.

The banks and other financial infrastructure involved then process and settle the actual transaction. [1]

So:

Swift = communication.
Banks and settlement arrangements = movement of value.

That distinction matters.

Simple way to think about it

Imagine two banks need to communicate.

They cannot simply send each other a casual email saying:

“Hi, can you move £2 million for us? Thanks.”

Financial messages need to be secure, structured and understandable by the systems receiving them.

Swift provides messaging infrastructure and financial standards that allow institutions to exchange that information securely and consistently. [2]

Think of it as a secure global financial courier combined with a shared financial language.

Bank A prepares the message.

Swift carries it securely.

Bank B receives and processes it.

Swift delivers the instruction. It does not perform the underlying financial transaction.

What does a Swift message actually say?

A payment message can contain information such as who is paying, who should receive the money, the amount and currency, the banks involved, and a payment reference.

In plain English, the instruction might mean:

“Bank B, please credit €5,000 to this customer’s account for invoice 7842.”

A real Swift message does not look like a normal sentence. The information is organised into structured fields so the receiving bank’s systems can read and process it automatically.

What kind of messages are sent through Swift?

Swift messaging supports financial activity across payments, securities, trade finance, treasury, foreign exchange, reporting and other financial-market processes. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Examples include:

• 💸 Payment instructions — messages relating to payments between financial institutions.

• 📄 Account information and statements — balances, transactions and reporting information.

• 🏦 Bank-to-bank financial messages — structured information exchanged between financial institutions.

• 📦 Trade finance messages — communications relating to areas such as trade and supply-chain finance.

• 📈 Securities messages — confirmations, clearing, settlement and asset-servicing information.

• 💱 Treasury and foreign-exchange messages — information connected with treasury and FX activity.

• 🔎 Confirmations and reports — messages used to confirm transactions or communicate financial information.

Different Swift services and message standards are used for different purposes. [2]

Is Swift a bank?

No.

Swift is a global cooperative that provides secure financial messaging infrastructure. [1]

It does not operate like a commercial bank holding customer deposits.

A person cannot open a normal current account with Swift and keep their salary there.

In plain English

If Bank A and Bank B need to communicate securely:

Swift helps them talk to each other.

It does not become Bank C in the middle.

Who uses Swift?

The Swift community includes many different types of financial-market participants, not only traditional banks.

Swift lists participants including:

• banks;

• corporates;

• payment market infrastructures;

• securities market infrastructures;

• treasury market infrastructures;

• broker-dealers;

• custodians;

• investment managers;

• fund participants.

[6]

So although people often associate Swift with international bank payments, its role is much broader financial communication infrastructure.

In practice

What might a Swift payment journey look like?

Imagine a company in the United Kingdom needs to pay a supplier abroad.

The exact route depends on the banks, currencies, accounts and payment infrastructure involved, but a simplified example may look like this.

1. The customer gives the payment instruction

The company tells its bank:

“Pay this supplier.”

The bank receives the customer’s payment details.

2. The bank determines how the payment should be processed

The sending bank determines which institution or institutions need to receive the relevant financial instructions.

Depending on the transaction, this may involve another bank, a correspondent bank or a financial-market infrastructure.

3. A financial message is sent

The bank creates the appropriate structured financial message.

Swift provides the infrastructure through which the relevant message can be exchanged securely. [1] [2]

4. The receiving institution processes the instruction

The receiving institution receives the financial information and processes it according to the applicable message rules, account relationships, controls and payment arrangements.

5. The money is transferred or settled through the relevant financial arrangements

The actual movement of funds takes place through the banks, fintechs and other financial institutions or infrastructures involved.

Swift has carried the information needed to support the transaction.

It has not carried a digital bag containing the money. [1]

In one line

The Swift message tells the financial system what should happen. The financial institutions and settlement arrangements make it happen.

Professional view

Swift is more than one messaging service

People often use the word “Swift” as though it describes one single technical system.

In practice, the Swift environment contains different messaging services, standards and controls. [2]

Understanding the distinction matters operationally.

What is FIN?

FIN is Swift’s core service for exchanging individual structured financial messages using MT and ISO 15022 message formats. [3]

What is InterAct?

InterAct is a messaging service for exchanging XML-based financial messages and data, including Swift MX and ISO 20022-based payments, settlement instructions, FX confirmations, statements and reports. [4]

What is FINplus?

FINplus is the InterAct store-and-forward messaging service used for exchanging ISO 20022 messages in a many-to-many environment.

CBPR+ messages are exchanged through FINplus. [7]

What is FileAct?

FileAct is designed for secure transfer of larger files and data sets and is used in areas such as bulk payments and large-scale reporting. [5]

So:

Swift is the wider environment. FIN, FINplus, InterAct and FileAct are examples of services within that environment.

What are MT and MX messages?

These terms refer to different families of financial messages.

MT

MT messages are the traditional structured message format associated with Swift FIN. [2] [3]

They have historically been used across areas including payments, securities, treasury and trade finance. [3]

MX

MX messages are XML-based financial messages associated with ISO 20022 and can be exchanged through Swift services such as InterAct and FINplus. [4] [7]

ISO 20022 provides richer and more structured financial data than traditional MT payment formats. [7]

For cross-border payments and reporting under CBPR+, the coexistence period between MT and ISO 20022 ended on 22 November 2025. ISO 20022 is now required for the relevant cross-border payment instructions. [7] [8]

That does not mean every MT message everywhere on Swift disappeared on that date.

Other FIN/MT message types can continue depending on the business area, service and current Swift standards. [7] [8]

So avoid the oversimplification:

“Swift used MT and now everything is MX.”

That is not accurate.

The applicable format depends on the service, business area, message type and current Swift rules.

What is a BIC?

A BIC is a Business Identifier Code defined under ISO 9362. [9]

It is used for purposes including identifying business parties, addressing messages and routing business transactions. [9]

A useful distinction is:

Swift = messaging infrastructure.
BIC = identifier.

One particularly important detail is that having a BIC does not automatically mean that an organisation is connected to the Swift network.

Swift distinguishes between:

• connected BICs, which have access to the Swift network; and

• non-connected BICs, which do not have network access and may be used for identification and reference purposes.

[9]

That distinction can matter when reviewing counterparties, payment instructions and reference data.

Where does RMA fit into Swift?

RMA stands for Relationship Management Application.

RMA helps financial institutions control which counterparties may send them relevant Swift message traffic.

Swift describes RMA as a control that enables institutions to define which counterparties can send them FIN messages and helps block unwanted traffic. [10]

The simplest way to connect the two ideas is:

Swift is the secure road for financial messages.
RMA is a gate controlling who may send relevant traffic toward you. 🔐

What is RMA Plus?

RMA Plus provides more granular control.

Swift states that RMA Plus allows institutions to specify which message types they want to receive from, and send to, individual counterparties. [10]

For example, an institution may permit a particular messaging relationship while restricting the types of messages that can be exchanged.

The applicability and configuration of RMA should always be considered in the context of the relevant Swift service, message type and current Swift rules.

See the separate SWIFT RMA / RMA Plus Lexicon entry for the detailed explanation.

Professional judgement

Does using Swift mean two institutions have a correspondent banking relationship?

No.

A Swift messaging relationship, a BIC, an RMA authorisation and a correspondent banking relationship are not the same thing.

The Wolfsberg Group’s current Swift RMA Guidance specifically addresses the management of non-customer RMAs. [13]

This distinction matters because an institution may maintain an RMA relationship with another institution without that institution otherwise being its customer.

The existence of an RMA or messaging relationship should therefore not, by itself, be treated as proof that one institution provides correspondent banking services to the other.

The underlying business relationship must be understood separately.

Does Swift perform sanctions or compliance checks for the bank?

Using Swift does not replace a financial institution’s own compliance responsibilities.

Swift states that it does not determine whether an individual financial transaction is legitimate under sanctions regulations. Responsibility for compliance with sanctions requirements rests with the financial institutions handling the transaction and the relevant authorities. [11]

Swift also provides separate financial-crime compliance products and services, but these do not transfer the institution’s regulatory responsibility to Swift. [11]

So:

“It went through Swift” does not mean “the transaction is automatically compliant.”

Financial institutions still need their own appropriate controls.

Can Swift disconnect banks?

Yes, but this needs an important distinction.

Swift describes itself as a neutral messaging provider and says it does not independently make sanctions policy. However, because Swift is incorporated under Belgian law, it must comply with applicable EU law. [11]

Iran, 2012

Following EU Regulation 267/2012, Swift was prohibited from providing financial messaging services to EU-sanctioned Iranian banks.

Swift complied with that regulatory obligation by disconnecting the relevant sanctioned Iranian banks. [11]

Many affected banks were subsequently reconnected after being removed from the relevant EU sanctions list in January 2016. [11]

Iran, 2018

This case was different.

In November 2018, Swift suspended certain Iranian banks’ access to its messaging system.

Swift describes this as an exceptional step taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system and based on its assessment of the economic situation. [11]

It should therefore not simply be described as the same type of legal instruction as the 2012 disconnection.

Russia and Belarus, 2022

In 2022, EU measures prohibited specialised financial messaging providers from providing services to designated Russian entities.

Because Swift is incorporated under Belgian law and must comply with applicable EU regulation, Swift disconnected the designated Russian entities and their designated Russia-based subsidiaries.

Swift also disconnected designated Belarusian entities and relevant subsidiaries under corresponding EU measures. [11]

Russia, 2025

Further EU measures followed in March and July 2025.

In July 2025, Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494 amended Regulation (EU) No 833/2014 and expanded the existing restriction on specialised financial messaging services into a broader transaction ban for certain designated Russian credit and financial institutions.

Swift states that, because it is incorporated under Belgian law and must comply with EU regulation, it disconnected all entities designated under those measures from the Swift network. [11]

This shows that sanctions affecting access to Swift are not frozen in time. The legal framework and the list of affected institutions can change as sanctions regimes evolve.

Swift does not decide whether an individual customer payment complies with sanctions. But Swift itself must comply with laws and regulatory obligations that apply to the messaging service it provides.

Why does standardised messaging matter?

Two financial institutions may use completely different internal systems.

They still need to understand the same financial instruction.

Structured financial standards allow information to be exchanged in a consistent form and support automated processing across different systems. [2] [3] [4]

This can support:

• automated processing;

• routing;

• validation;

• reconciliation;

• payment processing;

• securities processing;

• reporting;

• compliance controls.

ISO 20022 is particularly significant because it allows richer, better structured and more granular data to travel with financial messages. [7]

Swift identifies benefits including better automation, improved analytics, reduced manual intervention and more accurate compliance processes. [7]

Professional takeaway

Do not treat “Swift” as another word for “international money transfer”.

Swift is financial messaging infrastructure used to exchange structured financial instructions and information.

When analysing a Swift-related process, ask:

Who is sending the message?
Who is receiving it?
Which Swift service is being used?
Which message type or standard applies?
What permissions or RMA controls apply?
What is the underlying business relationship?
How is the financial transaction actually transferred or settled?

Those are different questions.

In one line

Swift carries the financial message. The institutions and financial infrastructure involved carry out the underlying transaction.

Key takeaways

Swift is secure financial messaging infrastructure.

Swift messages carry financial instructions and information, not the money itself.

Swift is not a bank.

FIN, FINplus, InterAct and FileAct are different services within the wider Swift environment.

MT and MX are different financial messaging formats, and the move to ISO 20022 does not mean that every MT message has disappeared.

A BIC identifies a business party, but having a BIC does not automatically mean that the organisation is connected to the Swift network.

RMA controls relevant messaging permissions. RMA Plus allows more granular message-type controls.

A Swift or RMA relationship does not automatically mean that a correspondent-banking customer relationship exists.

Swift does not replace a financial institution’s own sanctions, compliance or financial-crime controls.

Swift itself must comply with legal restrictions that apply to its messaging services.

The applicable Swift service, message standard, permissions and underlying financial relationship should always be considered separately.

Sources & links

The sources below are current official Swift materials and primary industry guidance used for this entry.