Does Swift have a place in the new digital world?

SWIFT does have a role to play as its an established network with so many banks and other users making use of the network. However in the 21st century the finance industry its customers and society make use of commercial networks and increasing social media and the internet. It also is a rapid user of digital technology throughout business and consumer. Private networks do not feature very much in the future that is a strong call for SWIFT to adapt

First they should split up their role as a standard body and second open up the private network into one that is a more open public facility. The old barrier of security is now longer the big concern as before as we have seen exponential growth in financial transactions over the web. The future is more about providing access to services and supplying real time data for managing transactions and risks. SWIFT has to decide if it will continue to be a barrier to change or be a vital componant of FS industry efficiency. Dont adapt and i fail to see a future for SWIFT 

As Gary mentions in his comment, there are other ways for banks to connect with their corporate and financial conterparties, notably commercial networks such as GXS and SAP FSN. All of these networks, including SWIFT, are interconnected so that SWIFT no longer is the "only game in town" and value added services becomes the differentiator.