Finastra secures SWIFT Compatible Application label for Trade Finance

By Joy Dumasia

Finastra announced that they are the first technology provider to secure the SWIFT Compatible Application label 2021 for Trade Finance. The achievement proves that Fusion Trade Innovation, Finastra’s global trade and supply chain booking engine and processing solution, meets rigorous SWIFT industry standards.

Finastra’s Fusion Trade Innovation supported customers through the first wave of SWIFT changes in 2018; now, the solution is the first compatible and ready to support banks with this next stage. The solution is ready to support customers ahead of the SWIFT SR2021 go-live in November, impacting Category 7 Guarantees and Standby Letters of Credit messages.

Banks worldwide face many challenges due to the pandemic, which leads to greater intensity when navigating the changes needed to ensure compliance with the SWIFT SR2021 for Category 7 Guarantees and Standby Letters of Credit messages.

The new fields and message types, introduced as part of these upcoming changes, require banks and financial institutions to review existing business and operational processes for multiple trade finance products, domestically and cross-border, including the introduction of the new Undertakings functionality.

Anastasia McAlpine, Head of Product for Trade and Supply Chain Finance at Finastra, said, “SWIFT SR2021 completes the cycle of the most significant set of changes to the trade finance messaging interface in nearly 30 years, with the updated message structures and the introduction of new message types. We are delighted to have secured this SWIFT Compatible Application label as it demonstrates Fusion Trade Innovation’s strong capabilities to align with the extensive and complex SWIFT standards. It is also a testament to the solution’s ability to support customers as the industry evolves.”

Recently, IBS Intelligence stated that Finastra announced that the UK-based specialist building Society, Teachers Building Society, has selected Fusion Essence Cloud, its next-generation Software as a Service (SaaS) core banking solution, to deliver a new core and digital banking service.