SWIFT Chairman Considers Financial Industry Is Undergoing Extraordinary Changes

Yawar Shah, the Chairman of the financial messaging services SWIFT considers that cryptocurrencies are changing the financial industry.

He said that at the Sibos 2019 conference that is being held in London. Cryptocurrencies have been expanding during the last decade and they represent a challenge for SWIFT. 

Cryptocurrencies Are Changing The Financial Industry

There are many crypto and blockchain projects around the world related to the financial industry.

Improvements in payment protocols, faster remittances and better control over transactions. These are just some of the improvements these digital assets have over traditional financial markets. 

At the Sibos 2019 conference, Yawar Shah said that the financial industry is undergoing extraordinary change because of new entrants and the emergence of technologies like crypto assets. 

“The financial industry is undergoing an extraordinary change, because of new entrants like Facebook’s Libra and the emergence of technologies like cryptoassets.” – Yawar Shah @swiftcommunity https://t.co/KffvCcFk6I

— ConsenSysEvents @ Sibos (@ConsenSysEvents) September 23, 2019

SWIFT is the most used messaging system for traditional financial institutions around the world. This service has already sent over 7.8 billion FIN messages and there are over 11,000 firms connected to that network. 

One of the main questions is whether SWIFT could be affected by the emergence of these technologies. One of the virtual currencies that could compete with SWIFT is XRP through the Ripple Network. 

Indeed, Ripple is working in order to create a large network of financial institutions that would be able to send and receive cross-border transactions in a fast and easy way.

There are hundreds of financial firms already working with Ripple and using its services. Some of its clients include Santander or MoneyGram. 

The CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, has also stated that the services offered by SWIFT are old and they have not really evolved since they were created. 

Stellar Lumens (XLM) is also trying to do something similar, and it has already partnered with companies such as IBM.

Shah has also talked about Facebook’s Libra, the virtual currency announced by the largest social media network in the world.

Libra would allow users to send and receive money directly on their mobile phones using WhatsApp or Messenger. 

At the moment, regulators around the world are worried about the effects that Libra could have on the economy.

Indeed, they consider that Libra could compete against national fiat currencies in many countries. Libra is going to be backed by a basket of stable fiat currencies. 

SWIFT recognizes that there are new players in the industry and that they could eventually offer better services to institutions and companies.