Joining our network opens up a world of opportunities.
By joining Swift, you can exchange financial information securely and efficiently with more than 11,000 banks, payment, securities and treasury market infrastructures, broker/dealers, custodians, investment managers, fund participants, and corporate clients worldwide.
Our network is unparalleled in security, reliability and resiliency. And our uncompromising approach to information security is a major differentiator of our services.
Swift is the backbone of global financial communication
We provide our community with a platform for messaging and transaction management, standards for communicating and products and services to facilitate access, integration, business intelligence, reference data and financial crime compliance.
As your trusted provider, we relentlessly pursue operational excellence and continually seek ways to help you lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies.
And as a Swift user, you gain exclusive access to global, regional and local events to help shape market practice, define standards and debate issues impacting our industry.
Who can join Swift
Our community includes, among others:
- Banks
- Payment, securities and treasury market infrastructures
- Broker/dealers
- Custodians
- Investment managers
Learn more about the different Swift user categories and their respective usage rights on the network here. The conditions for admission can be found in the Corporate Rules and By-laws.
Join Swift in 4 steps
Joining the Swift network and community as a Swift user entails a one-off onboarding project to allow you to exchange financial information securely and efficiently with more than 11,500 counterparties worldwide.
The four-step process with three key milestones is explained below.
Provide information about your company and your Swift messaging needs
Express your interest to connect to the Swift network as a Swift user by clicking the “New onboarding request” button below. Then log in and provide clear information about:
- your company
- your business activities
- your specific Swift messaging service needs and correspondents
- your affiliation with other Swift users
Our Swift account management team will reach out to you to understand your company needs and introduce the Swift solutions.
You only need a BIC non-connected to the Swift network
You want an additional connected BIC
You wan to become a Swift Partner |
Don’t have a swift.com login account yet? Create one now -- see explanatory video.
You can find the quick starter user guide to our onboarding application here.
Swift to understand your needs and design an adequate solution
Our Swift account management team will get in touch with you to:
- understand your business and Swift messaging needs, and the Swift User Category that would be applicable to your company
- explain more about our Swift solutions and offering
- design and propose a suitable solution for the messaging and connectivity components and services you need
Once you agree to the proposal and quotation, the core Swift onboarding process can start.
How to prepare for the next phases
Your account manager will provide you with the following information to help you plan and prepare for the next phases:
- A list of documents and information required to verify and validate eligibility to join the Swift network in the intended User Category and to set up your Swift account. We advise you to start collecting these as early as possible. Notify the account management team immediately if you expect not to be able to provide the requested information or documents within one month.
- Information about the mandatory security controls that need to be implemented and the related compliance attestation in the context of the Swift Customer Security Programme (CSP).
- Initial technical requirements, if a Swift-provided interface connectivity was chosen.
Provide information and documentation to check eligibility and setup your account
An onboarding customer care staff member will guide you through steps 3 and 4 of the onboarding process until you go live on the Swift network.
We are a cooperative company servicing the global financial community. The eligibility criteria for joining our network are set by the Swift community through the Swift shareholders (or Members), and mandatory criteria are documented per User Category in the Swift Corporate Rules.
Key milestones in the onboarding process
The first key milestone in the onboarding process is to be admitted as a Swift user. Key steps are to:
- Provide within one month the requested list of supporting documents and information to allow our onboarding and compliance teams to confirm the applicable User Category and validate eligibility.
- Indicate who will be responsible for security administration, and provide shipping, billing and tax information to allow Swift to set up your customer account and allow you to self-manage it.
- Have the initial main agreement with Swift – called the Undertaking – signed by an authorised signer for your company.
Please provide the requested documents and information in a timely manner. If you don’t, or if there is insufficient evidence of compliance with the eligibility criteria and conditions for admission, the admission process could be stopped.
Prepare for implementation of your connectivity
The specifics will depend on the type of connectivity you choose.
You will also need to prepare for the implementation of the applicable mandatory security controls, as part of the Customer Security Programe (CSP). You should:
- Engage with your security team(s) and plan for the necessary time and resources.
- Identify the applicable mandatory security controls and plan for their implementation. These will depend on the architecture of your Swift connectivity and interface infrastructure.
- Plan to validate compliance with the mandatory security controls through an independent assessment. This can be done either internally by your second or third line-of-defence or by an external assessor.
Order and install products
Implement connectivity
Implement mandatory security controls and attest compliance
In this final step, the following implementation workstreams should be conducted in parallel:
Administrative setup
We will set up the accounts of your initial security administrators:
- The swift.com administrators grant other staff members access to our self-service portal on swift.com, comprising amongst others the ordering portal, online training platform (Swift Smart), knowledge centre, software download centre and support case manager.
- The SwiftNet Security Officers configure your SwiftNet messaging accounts and related authorisations.
You set up Swift as supplier in your finance and vendor management back-office systems (see guidance) and ensure you’re able to receive and process Swift invoices in a timely manner.
Implement connectivity to the Swift network
We will enable test messaging services to allow you to test connectivity and integration with your back-office systems. For Swift Alliance Cloud connectivity, a Swift implementation consultant will assist you with the implementation. For partner-based onboarding, please check with your connectivity partner.
Implement the mandatory security controls
Implement the mandatory security controls of the Customer Security Programme (CSP) and attest your compliance in the security attestation application, called KYC-SA.
The activation of your live messaging services on the Swift network can be planned when:
- you attest on your compliance against the mandatory CSP security controls;
- there are no outstanding overdue invoices; and
- the operational readiness of your implementation is confirmed by yourself or the Swift implementation consultant.
To prepare for live use of the Swift network and services, engage with your counterparties and:
- set up mutual Relationship Management Authorisations (RMA) to allow the exchange of Swift messages with them;
- agree on the specific financial messaging types to be exchanged, including the specific use of optional message fields; and
- test end-to-end messaging flows.
