The introduction of SWIFTNet appears to be feeding debate among investment communities. The debate could lead to some of them questioning SWIFT’s role in the future and whether it is still fit for its purpose in a world of open standards and communications.
SWIFTNet operates over internet standard communications with a software-coded security certificate known as Public Key Infrastructure, rather than the current X.25 networking, which is hardware based. Most banks will make the transition to SWIFTNet by the end of 2004, at which point support for the old hardware network will be switched off.
