SWIFT vs local networks:
when and what
to use.

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is the global messaging network that banks use to communicate payment instructions across borders. It connects over 11,000 institutions in 200+ countries and processes around 40 million messages per day.

A SWIFT payment works like this: your bank sends a formatted message to its correspondent bank, which relays it along a chain until it reaches the recipient's bank. The actual settlement of funds happens through the nostro/vostro account network maintained between these correspondent banks.

Each country or currency zone typically has its own domestic payment infrastructure - optimised for speed, low cost, and direct settlement within that system. These are variously called local payment rails, local clearing networks, or domestic payment schemes.

Unlike SWIFT, which routes payments through a chain of correspondent banks, local network payments settle directly between participants in that network. If your payment provider has an account within the local network, your payment arrives as a domestic transfer at the other end - faster, cheaper, and with no intermediary deductions.

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) covers 36 European countries. SEPA Credit Transfers settle same-day; SEPA Instant settles in 10 seconds. Available for EUR payments throughout the eurozone and beyond.

Faster Payments is the UK's real-time payment network. Transfers up to £1 million settle in seconds. Zero consumer cost. Almost all UK bank accounts participate.

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is the US domestic network. Standard ACH takes 1-2 business days; Same-Day ACH settles within hours. Far cheaper than a SWIFT USD wire.

Other notable systems include Australia's New Payments Platform (NPP), India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Brazil's PIX, and Singapore's FAST network - all of which offer near-instant domestic settlement at minimal cost.

You are sending to a major currency destination - EUR, USD, GBP, AUD, CAD, SGD, or any currency with a well-developed local network. For these destinations, local rails are almost always faster and cheaper than SWIFT. A provider with local network access can deliver a EUR payment the same day; a SWIFT wire to the same account might take 2-3 days and cost significantly more.

You are sending to a destination without a well-developed local network - many emerging markets, less-traded currencies, or countries where your provider does not hold a local account. SWIFT's global reach makes it the only viable option for payments to less-connected banking systems.

Through Ebury's payment infrastructure, Stately FX has access to local payment networks in 130+ currencies. When you make a payment, we automatically route it via the most efficient available network - local rails where they exist, SWIFT where they don't.

This means most payments to Europe arrive same day via SEPA, most USD payments arrive next day via ACH, and most GBP payments arrive in seconds via Faster Payments. You get the benefit of specialist infrastructure without needing to understand which network applies to your payment.