NAB is first Australian bank to use Swift payments tracker

National Australia Bank is utilizing the end-to-end transaction tracking system through Swift's Global Payments Innovation system, making it the first bank in Australia to allow business customers to track international payments through one click on an account platform.

Customers can access NAB Connect online or through local branches.

International transaction messaging service Swift upgraded its GPI Tracker last year to allow all transactions and messaging to be monitored in real time, a move it felt was essential to accommodate various faster payments systems.

Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Swift's GPI, a process by which all banks follow similar transaction policies and messaging for communication, has been integrated into Australia's New Payments Platform for faster payments for nearly two years.

Swift has been pushing GPI adoption since launching the initiative in 2016, recently citing a milestone in which it has moved $40 trillion in transaction value through GPI in its first two years.

“Until now, business customers sending money overseas have had no visibility of where their money travels, what fees have been deducted by overseas banks or when their payment has been received by the recipient,” Paul Franklin, NAB's general manager of payments, said in a Tuesday press release.

“Just like tracking a courier package in transit, NAB business customers are now able to see where their money is, how long it is taking to process and when the funds sent are available for use," Franklin added. “This is a game changer for small and large businesses who are amongst the world’s first to have visibility of their international payment information, at no extra cost."

NAB has been sending payments via Swift GPI since 2017, with payments arriving within minutes when sent to banks in the same time zone. Worldwide, 50% of GPI payments are reaching their recipient within 30 minutes.

“This technology addresses the most important challenges faced by business customers today, including tackling the uncertainty around the length of time needed for payments to be credited and the inability to fully trace them," Bill Doran, Swift general manager, said in the release.

“This end-to-end real-time payment tracking will add tremendous value to NAB customers by offering more visibility and furthering automating these functions," Doran said.

There is no change to how customers create or send an international payment when using NAB Connect. Customers select an international payment on their transaction history to see more information such as current tracking status, fees and processing time.