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As the first bank in Canada to introduce Swift Go, the launch marks the latest step in RBC's ongoing commitment to innovations in digital banking and payments

TORONTO, Nov. 17, 2022 /CNW/ - In today's global economy, business has no borders, and Canadian companies are increasingly relying on and expecting frictionless international payments in order to succeed. To address this growing need, RBC today launched Swift Go, a new solution that enables Canadian businesses to send cross-border payments of up to $10,000 in foreign currencies with speed, security, predictability and efficiency. Implemented in collaboration with J.P. Morgan and Swift, RBC is the first Canadian financial institution to introduce this capability for its business clients.

"By offering cost-effective, fast and predictable cross-border payments, the introduction of Swift Go will make it easier for Canadian companies to plan their cash flow, forecast their liquidity position and do business globally," said Lisa Lansdowne-Higgins, Senior Vice-President, Business Transformation and Deposits, RBC. "This launch in Canada is one of the many innovative ways in which RBC is collaborating with global leaders in payments innovation, ensuring that our clients have early access to the latest digital payments solutions."

Currently available to clients through the RBC PayEdge™ platform, Swift Go will provide small- and medium-sized enterprises with added flexibility and choice in how they pay suppliers around the world. Key benefits of the new service include:

• Speed and convenience: Through Swift Go, companies can make simple, trackable, secure international payments directly from their bank accounts and other funding sources. The capability leverages Swift's global payments innovation (gpi) technology, enabling users to track the exact status of their payments and helps them better plan, predict and optimize their cash flow.
• Ease of use and predictability: The service's streamlined user experience supports clients in making the right routing decision, while its advanced pre-validation feature allows RBC to check the validity of the receiving account before a payment is sent. As a result, it reduces the likelihood of costly payment errors, delays or returns.
• Competitive and transparent pricing: Payments made through Swift Go offer reduced processing costs compared to traditional wire services. Swift Go also provides upfront visibility into the amount, time, fees and foreign exchange rate of a payment. This allows business users to see the final cost of making a payment before it is sent, and enables them to transfer the principal amount of their transaction with no deductions.

"We are excited to work with RBC to provide low value cross-border payment services initiated via Swift Go to J.P. Morgan's Xpedite Remit," said Rohit Godara, Global Product Lead (Xpedite Remit), J.P. Morgan. "The solution provides our clients with the ability to make consumer payments using real-time or low value local clearing infrastructure, addressing 75% of global remittance fund flows by 2023."

Rosemary Stone, Chief Business Development Officer, Swift, said: "The consumer and SME segment is among the fastest growing in the cross-border payments industry and Swift Go provides the Swift community with a strong offer in this space. We are delighted to see RBC adopt Swift Go to build on its existing best-in-class banking services by delivering instant, frictionless and low-cost cross-border payments to the Canadian market."

The launch of Swift Go marks the latest step in RBC's ongoing commitment to innovation in digital banking and payments. As an early supporter of Swift's gpi initiative, RBC introduced a new real-time capability that enabled business clients to track their wire payments leveraging gpi technology in 2019. The bank also participated in Swift's international gpi pilot and actively worked with the gpi Vision Group to help streamline correspondent banking and improve payment transparency and traceability.

RBC was recognized as the winner of the 2022 Best Treasury and Cash Management Provider for Canada by Global Finance and the 2021 Celent Model Bank Award for Payments Transformation for its market-leading efforts to deliver such payment innovations and digital banking solutions, including RBC PayEdge™. RBC PayEdge™ is the first payments platform offered by a bank in Canada that allows businesses to combine multiple funding sources regardless of a client's bank or account type, pay suppliers in the payment form of their choice, and gain more flexibility with their working capital tools.

To learn more about Swift Go for RBC PayEdge™ clients, please visit rbc.com/payedge.

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SOURCE RBC Royal Bank