Banks connected to the existing cross-border payment system, SWIFT, interact by opening and managing current and correspondent accounts. The main condition for the system’s smooth operation is its participants’ ability to synchronize information on account balances.

Due to geographical distribution of participants, synchronization takes a long time. As a result, international transfers normally take between one and two days. If several intermediary banks are involved and they are located in different time zones, a transfer can take as long as a week. In addition, each intermediary bank adds its fee to the total cost of the transfer.

• Thanks to blockchain, international bank transfers can be faster and cheaper. This is possible because blockchain nodes automatically replicate data for all participants in the system, cryptographically protecting it from possible corruption. Transfer times are reduced to the time it takes for a transaction to reach all participating nodes.

• Since participating banks operate as a p2p network, they have no need for correspondent account chains, and the number of intermediaries is reduced.

Practically instant international money transfers are now possible. Transaction fees are dramatically reduced.