DBS partners SWIFT to enable real-time digital cross-border tracking

DBS has launched real-time online tracking for cross-border collections for businesses in India in partnership with SWIFT Global Payments Innovation (gpi). DBS is the first bank in India and Asia-Pacific to offer this service to clients, which is expected to benefit close to 4000 corporate and SME clients in India, with numbers expected to grow further.

The new DBS SWIFT gpi incoming tracking will arm corporate treasures with better cash forecasting by receiving the end-to-end tracking information, which was not possible a few years ago. Corporates can gain visibility over incoming payments now, helping with working capital management by planning back-to-back payments, thereby improving receivables forecasting and overall cash position. It also helps improve accuracy for intraday credit line needs and provides further benefits in supporting credit control.

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Divyesh Dalal, Head – Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank India, said, “At DBS, we are committed to empowering our customers with innovative digital solutions to bring efficiency in their business and achieve scale. Our incoming payment tracking capability, powered by SWIFT gpi, brings transparency and visibility to corporate treasuries and SME businesses alike. It makes FX and working capital management more predictable, thus reducing costs and optimising cash flow. Coupled with our digital solutions for cross-border payments, regulatory documentation management and FX, we strive to deliver the best platform for cross-border transactions to our customers. These solutions make banking simpler and effortless, giving customers more time to focus on their business.”

“The globalisation of economies has meant a pressing need amongst corporates operating across jurisdictions, time zones and currencies, for full and real-time visibility of their international payments. Driven by SWIFT gpi, the new inbound tracking service by DBS Bank allows corporates to see when a payment is on its way and when it is arriving at the beneficiary, which in turn reduces operational costs and frictions. The initiative is part of our vision at SWIFT towards a future of instant and frictionless account-to-account cross-border payments, and we continue to work closely with DBS Bank and our partners in the global financial services community, to achieve this,” added Kiran Shetty, Head of India and South Asia, SWIFT.

This value-added service is available by default and free of charge for all corporate customers via DBS IDEAL- DBS’ online corporate banking portal. Business customers can log into DBS IDEAL and receive a notification when a payment is initiated to the DBS account on the SWIFT network by the remittance bank (Inward Telegraph Transfer) and upon credit confirmation. Customers can also track where incoming funds are in the cross-border payment chain across multiple geographies. For the markets which require supporting documents, by using DBS DigiDocs, corporates can easily upload digital documents.

It is reliable, quick and hassle-free. This will significantly reduce the use of paper-intensive processes and improve efficiency. Additionally, customers also have the option to subscribe to Inward Telegraph Transfer (ITT) status alerts via email or mobile app. Traditionally, the tracking of cross-border collections tends to be highly manual, whereby corporates often rely on a copy of SWIFT message from the remitter, which confirms their remittance instruction has been processed by their bank. For interim status updates, corporates have to depend on their bank or the remitter (via remitter’s bank) to find out the latest status of the transfer across multiple banks, a process that is tedious, costly and time-consuming.

With the DBS SWIFT gpi incoming notification, customers receive digitised proof of initiation and structured payment advice, reducing manual processes. Such new features provide corporates with a transformed experience of both sending and receiving payments globally. The feature has been introduced across 7 DBS markets, including India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and Vietnam. Previously, DBS was also the first bank to launch outbound payments with end-to-end tracking with SWIFT gpi.