Need an Indian alternative to SWIFT payment system: Parliamentary committee

India should develop an indigenous alternative to the SWIFT payment system to better protect privacy of domestic financial data and boost the economy, the Parliamentary committee that is looking into the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has suggested. The panel has recommended that an alternative indigenous financial system be developed on the lines of similar systems elsewhere such as Ripple (USA), INSTEX (EU), etc.

“The Committee observes that data protection in the financial sector is a matter of genuine concern worldwide, particularly when through the SWIFT network, privacy has been compromised widely. Indian citizens are engaged in huge cross-border payments using the same network,” the panel said in its report, which ET has reviewed.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, popularly known as SWIFT, is based in Belgium. It was founded in 1973. Its messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories.


It provides a network that enables financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions and carries over five billion financial messages a year.

“The recommendations are valid. India is moving from cash to digital settlement mode. Government should start by creating a framework for setting up infrastructure for such an entity. It will make the implementation faster,” said Ashvin Parekh, managing partner, Ashvin Parekh Advisory Services.