SWIFT this week announced that its users will receive a rebate of at least 5% on their 2005 FIN messaging usage. The Board of Directors will decide whether to increase it beyond 5% at its December meeting.
This is the fourth year running that SWIFT has announced a rebate. The 2005 rebate is expected to be worth approximately Euros 18 million to users. In addition to 2005 price reductions already announced in June, SWIFT says it will have rebated Euros 88 million in total for the 2002-2005 period.
The rebate follows a series of price reductions that became effective in July this year. FIN reductions ranged from 5% to 30% (with an overall impact of 8%) which SWIFT says was worth Euros 15 million in 2005, with a full year impact of Euros 30 million in 2006.
In addition, a revised Traffic Growth Incentive Programme which introduced additional price reductions for users committing to increase their SWIFTNet traffic, was introduced. A one-time waiver of licence fees for the SWIFTAlliance Starter Set for smaller users, and the launch of wholesale discounts related to its Member/Concentrator model, were also announced in July.
“Earlier this year, we forecast a surplus for 2005, which led to pro-active pricing initiatives in July,” says Francis Vanbever, Chief Financial Officer at SWIFT. “The strong financial performance of the company enables us to grant these rebates while continuing to invest in the quality and resilience of our messaging infrastructure. The definitive rebate percentage will be determined in December and credited in January 2006.”
SWIFT says it is on track to meet its self-imposed challenge of cutting prices by 50% over the 2002-2006 period. By the end of 2005, messaging prices will have dropped 43% compared to 2001 for FIN, InterAct and FileAct services combined. In addition, says SWIFT, smaller users can take advantage of new low-cost Internet Service Provider (ISP) connectivity and introductory packages.