Swift's Holiday Message: 30% Fee Cut

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, the Brussels-based financial messaging concern, said it plans to reduce the fees on its service by an average of 30%.

The price cut will take effect Jan. 1.

The reduction follows a trend of lower pricing for Swift. In June, it reduced transaction fees by 20% for the first half of the year. For the second half of 1995, fees have been reduced even further.

"The cumulative value of the price reductions and rebates from 1992 to 1996 now amount to over $800 million," said Leonard Schrank, Swift's chief executive.

"During this same period, message prices have dropped by over 50% on average and 1,500 institutions have connected to the network."

Swift is able to reduce fees for its service because message volume is expected to rise by about 700 million transactions in 1996.

The network connects over 5,200 banks and other financial institutions in 135 countries.

Swift's average daily transaction volume has grown steadily in recent years, recently peaking at 2.7 million - about 500,000 more than it handled during periods earlier this year.

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