ICICI Bank launches SWIFT gpi Instant for cross-border inward remittances

ICICI Bank has partnered with SWIFT to provide a facility called SWIFT gpi Instant for enabling overseas partner banks to send instant remittances on behalf of their customers to beneficiaries staying in India.

According to the Indian private lender, the beneficiary gets the credit to his or her bank account instantly.

ICICI Bank said that it is the first bank in the Asia-Pacific region and second in the world to offer SWIFT gpi Instant facility for cross border inward payments.

The Indian banking group is said to have enabled its systems to process the payments message coming through ‘SWIFT gpi Instant’ and remit it further to any bank account in India instantly using the Immediate Payment Solution (IMPS) platform.

The solution facilitates the cross-border personal remittances of up to INR 2 lakh into India, while considerably shortening the turnaround time from the industry practice of at least few hours.

ICICI Bank launches SWIFT gpi Instant for cross-border inward remittances. Photo courtesy: Sumedh/Wikipedia.org.

Sriram H. Iyer – Head of ICICI Bank International Banking Group said: “India is the largest recipient of cross-border remittances, according to the World Bank data, and ICICI Bank has been a dominant player in inward remittances to India. We are delighted to be the first bank in Asia-Pacific to go live with the ‘SWIFT gpi Instant’ solution.

“This integration with the SWIFT platform brings in the convenience of the path-breaking paradigm of almost instant and seamless cross-border remittances.

“The inward remittance message received by ICICI Bank on ‘Swift gpi Instant’ is instantly processed, can be tracked end-to-end and the sender gets complete clarity on the receipt of funds by the beneficiary.”

ICICI Bank claimed that it became the first bank in India to enable ‘SWIFT gpi’, which gave the partner banks enhanced transparency on charges, execution speed, predictability, and end-to-end tracking of cross border payments for remittances, both in retail and corporate.

For the corporate customers, SWIFT gpi was enabled in December 2019 and is available on ICICI Bank’s digital platform – Trade Online for export-import transactions.

SWIFT gpi has been designed to enable companies or entities to get current status of their payment, time taken at all the steps, and final delivery date for their payments.

Kiran Shetty – CEO and Regional Head, India and South Asia, SWIFT said: “As the world is increasingly becoming real-time, ‘SWIFT gpi Instant’ is an important milestone for our strategic ambition to help banks and their clients meet the growing global demand for instant and frictionless cross-border transfers.

“We look forward to continuing our work with market infrastructures and leading financial institutions like ICICI Bank to bring benefits of seamless cross-border payments to customers, driving financial inclusion in this part of the world.”