It has been said many times that only if banks come together and join force also with traditional service providers will we get a real take-up of e-invoicing.

SWIFT has now published a report saying in essence that 28 out of 29 banks replying to questionnaire have already launched e-invoicing or plan to do so. Networking model naturally needed - to get volumes.

The banks are also expecting SWIFT to give the solid support needed for high quality operations and standardization. Especially as:

"With such potential massive cost savings and increased economic competitiveness on offer, it’s no surprise that many governments are strongly advocating change in this area. There are currently 18 countries in Europe, Asia and South America with initiatives and support for e–invoicing. It is expected that by 2010 most EU countries will have mandated the use of electronic invoicing in public administration."