ACI Adds Swift Ledger Routing to Connetic Payments Hub

ACI Worldwide said on September 22 it is adding routing for payments through Swift’s blockchain-based ledger to its ACI Connetic payments hub. The update is designed to let banks manage tokenized deposits alongside traditional payments using shared workflows and controls.

Tokenized deposits are digital representations of bank deposits. Swift’s ledger is intended to support cross-border transfers of these deposits around the clock, while connecting with banks’ existing payment operations.

ACI says Connetic can select a clearing and settlement route using rules set by banks and their customers. Those rules help institutions weigh speed, cost and availability across different payment types.

The pitch is operational: banks could handle ledger-based payments through the same system they use to route, monitor and reconcile other transactions. ACI says that could avoid building a separate digital-asset payment operation.

Swift says 17 banks across six continents are piloting use cases on the ledger, which is ready for initial use. That activity signals interest among large institutions, but does not establish broad commercial adoption or payment volumes.

The announcement adds a new digital-payments capability to ACI’s software offering, but disclosed no customer commitments or financial terms. Its commercial impact will depend on whether banks adopt the feature as pilots move toward everyday processing.

ACI plans to demonstrate the routing capability at the Sibos financial services conference in Miami on September 30. The demonstrations will show cross-border payments handled through Swift’s ledger, according to the company.