With this new status, Bank of America Merrill Lynch joins Swift's online database, giving corporate customers information on the Swift capabilities of their banking partners.

Corporate customers using SWIFT range from mid-sized companies with simple cash management structures dealing with a few banks locally to large corporations deploying sophisticated payments and collections working with multiple banks globally. By using SWIFT, corporate customers can automate and standardize financial transactions with their banking partners, allowing for improved visibility and control of cash flows as well as improved risk management. The Bank Readiness Certification provides these customers with insight into the readiness of their banking partners, allowing them to realize fully the benefits of their SWIFT connection.

"With more than a hundred corporate clients using SWIFT, we are delighted to have received SWIFT's Bank Readiness Certification, which we believe will encourage other corporate customers to adopt the service," said Tom Durkin, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's global head of Integrated Channel Solutions. "Bank of America Merrill Lynch provides treasury services to 86 percent of the Global Fortune 500 and to 95 percent of the U.S. Fortune 1,000. Our membership to SWIFT is a critical offering within our suite of treasury solutions."

"The SWIFT Bank Readiness Certification program is an important process that validates a bank's SWIFT capabilities to its corporate customers," said Elie Lasker, SWIFT's head of corporate market. "It eliminates uncertainty and makes it easier for corporate customers to make decisions related to SWIFT. The addition of Bank of America Merrill Lynch to the 'Bank Ready' list is a great achievement that will help raise awareness and adoption of the SWIFT for Corporates offering."

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a long-standing supporter of SWIFT and its programs for corporate customers. The firm was one of the original banks to pilot the Standardised Corporate Environment, also known as SCORE, a closed-user group, administered by SWIFT, where corporates can interact with financial institutions.