Canada’s growing global population—and the businesses looking beyond its borders—continue to faces a familiar challenge: moving money internationally remains slower and more costly than consumers expect. Now, Swift and Canada’s leading banks are working toward a better solution.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and TD Bank are the first banks in Canada—and among the first worldwide—to join Swift’s new framework for retail cross-border payments. The first phase will establish a corridor connecting Canada with Australia and Belgium, with additional markets expected to be added over tine.
By aligning Swift’s new standards, participating banks will help enable faster cross-border payments, including real-time transfers in supported markets and near-instant settlement in others. The framework is also designed to give consumers greater clarity upfront, showing applicable fees, foreign exchange costs, and expected settlement times before a payment is sent.
Breaking from the Model
These challenges have long defined the traditional correspondent banking model for cross-border payments. Those limitations have encouraged Swift to move beyond a model historically focused on commercial and intrabank transfers and develop a solution with consumers in mind.
The remittance market, in particular, has become more competitive as more consumers live, work, and maintain financial ties across borders. Yet many expatriates struggle to understand why they can instantly communicate with friends and family abroad while sending money home can still be costly and time-consuming.
The disconnect is especially viable in markets such as India and China, where consumers have become accustomed to seamless, mobile-based real-time payments domestically. For these consumers, the contrast between local and international payments is increasingly difficult to justify.
Small businesses face similar frustrations. Younger companies and entrepreneurs are pursuing international opportunities, but many encounter complexity when managing payments, currencies, and operations across multiple markets.
A Head Start
Swift launched its network to address these evolving needs, and it has already gained strong industry support, with participation from 60 banks across 25 countries. One notable addition was BBVA, which recently became the first Spanish bank in its home market to join Swift’s network.
The addition of RBC and TD Bank will help address cross-border payment challenges for a significant portion of consumers and businesses in Canada. However, Swift’s network remains far from global ubiquity. That leaves open questions about how it will coexist with competing solutions, including cross-border networks operated by Visa and Mastercard, as well as digital assets like stablecoins, which have already established a strong presence in the market.
