SWIFT

SWIFT — Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication — is a secure global messaging network that enables financial institutions across the world to send and receive standardised instructions for international money transfers, letters of credit, securities transactions, and other financial messages. Founded in 1973 and headquartered in Belgium, SWIFT connects over 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries. Each SWIFT participant is identified by a unique Bank Identifier Code (BIC), also called a SWIFT code. In India, SWIFT is extensively used by commercial banks for processing international wire transfers (inward and outward remittances), trade finance transactions, and correspondent banking communications. For individual investors and NRIs, SWIFT codes are required when initiating international fund transfers to or from India. SWIFT messages are not the actual movement of funds — they are secure payment instructions that trigger fund movements through correspondent banking relationships and clearing systems. The potential exclusion of a country from SWIFT — as occurred with several Russian banks following the 2022 Ukraine conflict — represents a severe financial sanction with immediate trade and payment consequences.