Swift introduces Pay Later API for instant loan financing

Interbank payment network Swift is pushing an API standard which will enable banks to provide instant loan approvals for customers at the point-of-sale.

2 comments

Swift introduces Pay Later API for instant loan financing

Editorial

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'Pay Later’ is an instant online payment facility which offers customers the ability to use traditional bank loan financing to pay for goods purchased online.

The banking co-operative says the Transactional Finance Application Programming Interface provides merchants with a single standard connection to member banks around the world, avoiding the need for multiple costly implementations.

Swift members believe the introduction of the interface will help the banking industry transition into the world of digital platforms.

Anne Carøe Hald, global head of payments products at Danske Bank says: “Pay Later is an opportunity for banks to serve their customers better; to offer appropriate finance where and when customers need it. The ability to provide services in this way - seamlessly integrated in customers’ on-line lives - will be key for banks to thrive in the digital economy.”

Swift has published Version 1.0 of the Pay Later API - which re-uses business definitions from the established ISO 20022 messaging standard - with the collaboration of a working group that includes banks, merchants and technology providers, paving the way for live pilot implementations.

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Comments: (2)

Ketharaman Swaminathan

Ketharaman Swaminathan Founder and CEO at GTM360 Marketing Solutions

Should Bank and Store be in two different countries OR is SWIFT also active in domestic payments?

Enrico Camerinelli

Enrico Camerinelli Supply Chain Blockchain Personal Coach at Aite Group

The possibility of adopting a single standard to connect with multiple banks is a great advantage to merchants that can provide instant loan approvals for customers at the point of sale.

The benefit of the API will be even greater once it will be made available also to corporate users—especially from small and midsize enterprises (SMEs), which are in constant need of access to innovative sources of finance to support their daily operations.

The opportunity for banks to offer more flexible and immediate funding options to SMEs is becoming an urgent strategic matter, as clearly described in another article from this week that states that “banks are failing to address opportunities in the financing of SMEs and conceding that potentially lucrative ground to disruptive challengers.”

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