Key Takeaways
Bottomline, a top-three Swift service provider handling roughly 15% of Swift's cross-border traffic, has partnered with Chainlink to enable onchain payments for its 600-plus bank customers.
Bottomline moves more than $16 trillion in payments a year, and will use Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol and Runtime Environment for cross-border settlement.
The system keeps compatibility with existing Swift and ISO 20022 banking infrastructure, so banks do not have to replace their current rails.
Chainlink and Bottomline announced a strategic partnership on September 3 to bring cross-chain, cross-border payments to more than 600 banks. Bottomline is one of the top three service providers on Swift, the messaging network that sits at the center of global bank transfers.
The scale is the story. Bottomline moves more than $16 trillion in payments across its platforms each year and handles roughly 15% of Swift's cross-border traffic, according to the companies. That volume is now being routed toward public and private blockchains.
Chainlink supplies the plumbing. Its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, known as CCIP, moves tokenized value between networks, and the Chainlink Runtime Environment coordinates the settlement steps. Bottomline's bank customers get access through their existing systems rather than a rebuild.
Compatibility is the part that makes it usable. The setup is designed to work with the Swift and ISO 20022 standards banks already run, so a bank can settle onchain without ripping out the infrastructure it uses today.
None of this is new on its own. What's new is the volume moving at once. A single provider that already routes a sixth of Swift's cross-border messages is connecting that flow to blockchain settlement, the same direction shown when 39 state banking groups formed the BankChain Alliance to build a bank-owned blockchain, and when Citi said it would custody Bitcoin inside a $30 trillion business. The rails banks already trust are being wired into the rails that were supposed to replace them.
People Also Ask
What is the Chainlink and Bottomline partnership?
It is a strategic partnership announced on September 3 that lets Bottomline offer cross-chain, cross-border payments to its 600-plus bank customers using Chainlink's interoperability and settlement technology.
How much does Bottomline handle in payments?
Bottomline moves more than $16 trillion in payments a year across its platforms and accounts for roughly 15% of Swift's cross-border traffic.
What is Chainlink CCIP?
The Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, or CCIP, is Chainlink's system for moving tokenized value and data between different public and private blockchains.
Will this replace Swift?
No. The partnership is designed to stay compatible with existing Swift and ISO 20022 standards, connecting bank payment flows to blockchains rather than replacing the messaging network.
Sources
Chainlink, Bottomline, Bitcoin.com News, Cryptopolitan.