SWIFT is: 50% payment messages 43% securities messages The rest are a mix with a lot being treasury transactions. I work on the investments side and use SWI

SWIFT is: 50% payment messages 43% securities messages The rest are a mix with a lot being treasury transactions. I work on the investments side and use SWIFT for security transaction settlements. For example, when we trade a security (stock, bond, derivative, etc) we send an ISO 15022 formatted message over SWIFT to the custodian telling them to expect delivery (for a buy) or to deliver (for a sell) a particular security on the settlement date. If we don’t give them this message then their settlement group will DK any securities being sent to them that don’t match a notification. (DK = Don’t Know) which means the trade will fail and you’ll have some really pissed off people that will want you to make them whole if they lost money as a result. SWIFT is used for lots and lots of things, not just payments.