SWIFT announced  that ICICI Bank and AXIS Bank are the first Indian banks to sign up for its global payments innovation initiative. Both banks will be joining forces with more than 70 other leading banks globally. The initiative aims to enhance cross-border payments by leveraging SWIFT’s proven messaging platform and global reach.

In its first phase, the initiative will focus on business-to-business payments. Designed to help corporates grow their international business, improve supplier relationships, and achieve greater treasury efficiencies; the new service will enable corporates to receive an enhanced payments service directly from their banks, with the following key features:

• Same day use of funds
• Transparency and predictability of fees
• End-to-end payments tracking
• Transfer of rich payment information.

Ajay Gupta, Senior General Manager, ICICI Bank said: “ICICI Bank has always been at the forefront in introducing technology in the banking segment. We are constantly looking at ways to add value to our corporate clients. The global payments innovation initiative is one such initiative where we believe that our clients will immensely benefit with same day credit, increased visibility and certainty of charges.

Sidharth Rath, Group Executive, Corporate & Transaction Banking, AXIS Bank said: “We are witnessing new technologies and innovative solutions in the payment space. In this dynamic payment scenario, we need to embrace new technologies and initiatives to constantly align our correspondent banking proposition to cater to the ever increasing needs of our customers.

Kiran Shetty, Head of India and Subcontinent, SWIFT said: “By being the first banks in India to join the global payments innovation initiative, ICICI Bank and AXIS bank reiterate their commitment to offering greater speed, transparency and predictability to their clients when it comes to cross-border payments.”

SWIFT and the participating banks from the initiative will discuss this topic further at Sibos 2016 with specific sessions focused on payments innovation