# SWIFT

*Banking & Payments — Finicade finance glossary*

SWIFT is the secure messaging network banks use to instruct each other across borders. It moves messages, not money — the actual transfer happens through correspondent accounts. Its chokepoint position makes it a geopolitical instrument: excluding a country's banks from SWIFT, as done to Iran and parts of Russia, severs their access to the international payment system.

**Also known as:** SWIFT network, BIC code, SWIFT code

**Related terms:** [Wire Transfer](https://finicade.com/glossary/wire-transfer), [Correspondent Banking](https://finicade.com/glossary/correspondent-banking), [Cross-Border Payments](https://finicade.com/glossary/cross-border-payments), [Sanctions Screening](https://finicade.com/glossary/sanctions-screening), [IBAN](https://finicade.com/glossary/iban)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/swift