The cost of **SWIFT** (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) for the world is not a direct monetary value, but rather a set of operational, political, and economic costs associated with its use as the primary global financial messaging system. Here are the main aspects:
### 1. **Direct Financial Costs for Banks**
- **Membership and Usage Fees**: Financial institutions pay annual membership fees to SWIFT, in addition to costs per message sent (which vary according to volume and type of transaction).
- **Technological Infrastructure**: Banks need to invest in secure systems to connect to the SWIFT network, which includes hardware, software, and compliance with strict standards.
### 2. **Costs of Sanctions and Exclusion**
- Countries excluded from SWIFT (like Iran in 2012 and Russia in 2022 due to sanctions) suffer severe economic impacts, including:
- **Decline in international trade** (up to 30-40% in some cases).
- **Devaluation of the local currency** and capital flight.
- **Increased costs** for alternative transactions (such as bilateral channels or cryptocurrencies).
### 3. **Dependency and Systemic Risks**
- SWIFT is dominant (over 11,000 institutions in 200+ countries), creating a **functional monopoly**. Failures or cyber attacks (such as the Bangladesh Central Bank hack in 2016) can paralyze global transactions.
- Emerging alternatives (like the **Russian SPFS**, **Chinese CIPS**, or **CBDCs**) require billion-dollar investments from other countries to reduce dependency.
### 4. **Geopolitical Costs**
- SWIFT, headquartered in Belgium, follows EU and US regulations, making it a **tool of foreign policy**. Sanctions via SWIFT can:
- **Fragment the global financial system** (e.g., Russia and China creating parallel systems).
- **Scald neutral countries**, which seek to reduce exposure to the dollar and euro.
### 5. **Efficiency vs. Hidden Costs**
- Although SWIFT streamlines transactions (standardizing messages), **it does not process settlements**, which depend on systems like **Fedwire** (US) or **TARGET2** (EU), adding layers of cost.
### Global Financial Estimate
A report from the **Bank of England** (2020) suggested that the global financial infrastructure (including SWIFT) costs **$150-300 billion/year** in maintenance, security, and compliance — but there is no exact number for SWIFT in isolation.
### Conclusion
The "cost" of SWIFT is more about **systemic dependency** than a specific value. Its economic impact is immense, but difficult to quantify in isolation. Alternatives like **blockchain** (Ripple, CBDCs) may reduce costs in the future, but are still marginal.