Michael Miebach says SWIFT probably won’t exist in 5 years

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach told a group of blockchain executives that he expects SWIFT to go out of business in as short as five years.

According to Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, he does not expect SWIFT, one of the most commonly used platforms for cross-border fiat transactions, to exist in five years.

Miebach was presenting at a panel discussion on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as part of the Global Blockchain Business Council’s (GBBC) Blockchain Central Davos conference, which took place concurrently with the World Economic Forum 2022 (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Given his position at Mastercard and the fact that the panelists before him, including Jon Frost, a senior economist at the Bank of International Settlements, and Jennifer Lassiter, executive director of the Digital Dollar project, an organization tasked with exploring a US CBDC, the response was unexpected.

Following Miebach on the panel was Yuval Rooz, CEO of Digital Asset — a data technology startup — and David Treat, director at Accenture and co-lead of the company’s blockchain division.

Later, a Mastercard spokesperson downplayed Miebach’s comments in a statement:

“Let us clarify the intent of the on-stage comment, as it’s not as simple as a yes or no answer. Michael was simply reinforcing what SWIFT has previously said — their operations continue to evolve. Its current form will not be the same in the future. They are adding more functionality and moving past just being a messaging system.”

SWIFT processed 42 million communications per day last year, but network transactions might take several days to complete. The corporation has worked hard to maintain its significance in the international economic order, particularly in the context of CBDCs.

To that aim, SWIFT has been investigating the potential of CBDCs to promote seamless cross-border payments since May 2021, when it published a joint paper with Accenture on how digital currencies can aid cross-border payments.

SWIFT announced its second round of CBDC studies on May 19, teaming with French IT firm Capgemini to investigate the connection of domestic CBDCs to promote smooth cross-border payments.

In another panel session titled “Rules of the Road for Digital Economy,” Miebach talked about the role regulation can take in reducing the unnecessary noise around a nascent technology like crypto.

“Not everyone is screaming for regulation but it does reduce the noise in the crypto world. Engaging actively with regulators and being principled, I am optimistic,” he said.

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