DBS' corporate clients in India will now be able to benefit from better cash flow visibility through real-time cross-border payment tracking of all their commercial payments.

DBS’ corporate customers will be the first in India to be offered real-time status of their cross-border^[1] payments at their fingerprints. DBS clients in Singapore and Hong Kong were the first in Asia to be able to tap into this digital solution. Powered by SWIFT Global Payments Innovation (gpi), this solution will enable DBS’ India clients to experience the same transparency and speed for their transactions.

Roshan Mathew, Head of Global Transaction Services at DBS Bank India said, "As with revolutionary products like UPI that transformed domestic payments, corporate treasurers have been eager to see innovation in cross-border payments and want efficiency and speed across all their payments. The DBS SWIFT gpi solution gives them online visibility to track payments across 62 gpi banks across the globe and this is set to increase as more banks come on board."

The SWIFT gpi launch is a significant step towards leveraging innovations into existing robust cross-border payments infrastructure provided by SWIFT. A SWIFT survey^[2] found that 54% of treasurers said that they want real-time payments tracking, while 42% are looking for instant payments.

With the new DBS SWIFT gpi solution, customers can now track^[3] the status of their cross-border^[4] payments instantly online without the need to call the DBS corporate call centre. By logging into DBS IDEAL, the bank’s corporate online banking platform, clients will be able to find out whether the full amount of funds has been received by the beneficiary, the foreign exchange rate applied, and where the funds are in the cross-border payment chain. In addition, customers can expect a faster turnaround time for their cross-border payments as banks using SWIFT gpi are governed by service-level agreements and are required to process transactions within four hours.

Raj Bafna, Sr. GM Finance, Alkem Laboratories Ltd^[5] said that the solution has benefited their payments processes. "The platform has enabled us to track payments in real time and brought clarity in the payment process," said Bafna.

"By bringing real-time cross-border tracking through SWIFT gpi to India, DBS is setting a new standard in the way treasury functions are managed. Traditionally, transactions are routed through multiple banks before reaching the beneficiary, making complete trackability of payment challenging, and leading to inefficiencies and increased operational costs. These gaps are being addressed by SWIFT gpi through its real-time, end-to-end status updates, and the information it offers on the foreign exchange rate and the amount that will be credited to the beneficiary. I am confident that this will up the ante for corporates and SMEs in India and offer them tremendous value-add when it comes to supporting their supply chain, trade and cash management functions," said Michael Moon, Head of Payments Markets, Markets & Initiatives, Asia Pacific, SWIFT.

"DBS has been pioneering banking with innovative products and challenging every way banking has operated traditionally. The unique online tracking solution is a testament to that commitment," Mathew added.

^{[1], [4]} Cross-border payments, which are not related to trade import payments (A2) are enabled for this feature.
^[2] The future of payments: a corporate treasury perspective survey by SWIFT and EuroFinance gauged the views of 300 treasury professionals from corporations worldwide, ranging from SMEs to global corporations in 18 different industries in October 2017.
^[3] The tracking on SWIFT gpi is based on a Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference number (UETR) assigned by the originating bank. This UETR enables real-time tracking of the status of the cross-border payment.
^[5] Alkem Laboratories Ltd. is one of India's leading Generic and Speciality Pharmaceutical Company.