SWIFT

S.W.I.F.T. stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. It is a non-profit organization comprised of member financial institutions. It was established in 1973 by European bankers who needed a more efficient and secure system for inter bank communications and transfer of funds and securities. Until then, all inter bank communications were by telephone, telex, courier, or mail.

Whereas a Fedwire contains no instructions past the basic funds transfer itself, S.W.I.F.T. is a messaging service. Each type of message is a condition of wire transfer. One cannot refer to a S.W.I.F.T. message as a "Conditional S.W.I.F.T." per se, since all S.W.I.F.T.'s carry conditions.

S.W.I.F.T. messages are preset and referred to by category numbers called MT numbers. For instance, MT800's only deal with Traveler's Checks, MT300's only deal with Foreign Currency Exchanges.

Each type of message or condition in each category is preset as well. For instance, there are 89 different messages available under the category MT500. This does not include the occasional sub code.

Additionally, certain phrases are allowable; however, these must be short and to the point, not exceeding a certain number of letters, and the phrases must be acceptable under S.W.I.F.T. standards.

Each MT category has its own manual of standards. Depending on the size of the financial institution, each department is only familiar with the MT manual that pertains to wire transfers made by that department.