What SWIFT does and why it matters to Russia
What SWIFT does and why it matters to Russia SWIFT has become a hotly debated topic in the conversation about Russian sanctions. Cutting Russian banks' access would further isolate the country from the global financial community, and put more economic pressure on the Kremlin. SWIFT, or the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, is a secure messaging service that more than 11k banks around the world use to communicate. "Essentially, the Gmail of global banking," as Bloomberg explained yesterday. Cutting Russian banks' access would isolate the country from the global financial community, and put more economic pressure on the Kremlin. The U.S. and its European counterparts have so far held back from cutting off SWIFT, but it's not off the table. European countries use SWIFT to pay Russian companies for oil and gas. Regular folks overseas are also familiar with the system, using it to conduct cross-country money transfers — to pay bills, s...