DUSHANBE, February 16, Asia-Plus – Two Tajikistan’s commercial banks – SohibkorBonk and Bonki Rushdi Tojikiston (Tajikistan Development Bank or TDB) intend to join the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which operates a worldwide financial messaging network, according to the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT).
The source at Tajik central bank said that six banks in Tajikistan, including OryonBonk, AgroInvestBonk, TajPromBank, AmonatBonk (Tajikistan’s savings bank), TojikSodirotBonk (TSB) and Bank Eshata, have to date successfully exchanging messages with other banks abroad through the SWIFT network.
The SohibkorBonk head Jamshed Qamviddinov said in an interview with Asia-Plus that SWIFT provides secure and reliable exchange of messages between banks, protecting them from losses and falsifications. “So far, out bank has used telex communications network and interbanking,” Qavmiddinov said.
According to representatives from a number of Tajik banks, the SWIFT system is very expensive and many small banks cannot afford it. According to them, the primary fee for joining SWIFT network fluctuates from $50,000 to $300,000, depending on types of services.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) operates a worldwide financial messaging network. Messages are securely and reliably exchanged between banks and other financial institutions. SWIFT also markets software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network.
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The majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network. As of April 2006 SWIFT linked almost 8000 financial institutions in 205 countries.
SWIFT is a cooperative society under Belgian law, owned by its member financial institutions, and it has offices around the world. SWIFT headquarters are located in La Hulpe, Belgium, near Brussels.
It was founded in Brussels in 1973, supported by 239 banks in 15 countries. It started to establish common standards for financial transactions and a shared data processing system and worldwide communications network. Fundamental operating procedures, rules for liability etc., were established in 1975 and the first message was sent in 1977.
