SWIFT just announced that it will provide U.S. institutions with a gateway to The Clearing House’s real-time payments (RTP) platform. As instant payments become more ubiquitous in the U.S., SWIFT will provide an interface to manage the requirements of sending and receiving domestic instant payment transactions on behalf of customers.
The Clearing House (TCH) is building a new clearing and settlement system to support domestic instant payments in the U.S., allowing consumers and businesses to send and receive payments in real-time and directly from their accounts at financial institutions. It will also include data and non-payment messages that financial institutions can use to build digital commerce solutions.
SWIFT’s solution for the U.S. market will provide banks with the opportunity to leverage a single platform, Alliance Messaging Hub (AMH) for both SWIFT high-value payments and low-value TCH real-time payments. AMH is an orchestration layer that includes a gateway to the TCH RTP network, as well as other gateways and API’s which allow financial institutions to connect to other non-SWIFT networks. Financial institutions can leverage AMH to support instant payments, simplifying adoption to our customers. The solution will be commercially available by early 2018.
SWIFT is working together with communities worldwide to support the global shift towards real-time payments, and we are pleased to be at the forefront as the U.S. market evolves,” said Ignacio Blanco, Director, Strategic Relationships at SWIFT. “The Clearing House is making great strides in accelerating the speed of transactions, and we are committed to playing our part in helping the financial community to operate as efficiently as possible.
Steve Ledford, SVP Product and Strategy at The Clearing House, added:
Given its reach and expertise in payments, SWIFT is a great collaborator as we bring a wide-scale real-time payments system to the U.S. market. Achieving our vision of broad adoption of real-time payments will only be possible when the majority of U.S. institutions are able to participate, and SWIFT will be instrumental in helping us meet this goal.
This solution is the latest development in SWIFT’s global instant payments strategy, and builds on SWIFT’s earlier success in Australia and in Europe.