DBS introduces real-time digital cross-border incoming payment tracking for all corporate and SME clients
DBS has launched real-time online tracking for crossborder 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.
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.