Inbound Payments Tracking: A Game-Changer in the Making

With SWIFT’s cross-border inbound tracking service for gpi becoming the latest addition to the treasurer’s toolkit, Nicolas Cailly, Deputy Head of Payments & Cash Management, Societe Generale, explains the new realms of possibility for treasurers.

Receiving positive reviews from stakeholders from the outset, it is no surprise that Nicolas Cailly, Deputy Head of Payments & Cash Management, Societe Generale, describes SWIFT gpi as a “revolution for cross-border payments”.  After all, as the lead in Societe Generale’s own very close involvement in Swift’s ongoing programme of technical development and user democratisation, he has first-hand experience of what gpi, and its subsequent developments, really means to its stakeholders.

Building transparency

The gpi revolution, as experienced by treasurers, has three key pillars, explains Cailly. First, it is fast. With around 40% of all gpi cross-border payments settled in under five minutes, and 95% being settled in one business day, it offers a “tremendous change” over prior network experiences.

The second gpi pillar is real-time tracking. As Cailly also notes, this too is a “game-changer”. Where previously if a cross-border payment stalled within the system, there was no way of immediately telling what the problem was, or even where the issue had occurred. “I see real-time tracking as the ‘Metroline’ within SWIFT,” he enthuses. “We can now see where a payment is at any time, which means we can also contact the relevant institution for a quick resolution of the problem.”

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