CaixaBank and BBVA join a Swift proof of concept for cross-border payments by alias

At Sibos, Swift set out a proof of concept that would let cross-border payments be addressed with a mobile number, an email address or a virtual payment address instead of an account number. Thirteen financial institutions are testing it, among them the Spanish banks CaixaBank and BBVA alongside DBS, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, AP+, IDFC FIRST Bank, Banco de Credito del Peru, Banorte, Bradesco, Ouribank and Citizens Bank.

Swift gave no rollout timeline. Its messaging network connects more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries.

Alias addressing is what made domestic instant payments usable, and it is the layer the European schemes are now building between themselves through the European Network for Payments. Swift proposing it for cross-border payments means the two approaches will meet: a European alias directory that stops at the edge of Europe competes with a global one that does not.

That the two Spanish banks testing it are also the banks behind Bizum, which carries alias payments domestically, is the detail worth tracking.

Whether Swift's alias scheme interoperates with the European Network for Payments directory or duplicates it, which European schemes join the proof of concept, and whether Swift sets a date.

• paymentsjournal.com