SPFS (Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia)

SPFS: the Financial Messaging System of the Bank of Russia. Its development began in 2014 as a backup channel in case Russian banks were disconnected from SWIFT. Today Russian banks and some foreign banks exchange messages through it.

How it works

Like SWIFT, SPFS transmits messages, not money. The sender’s bank sends a payment instruction through it. The money moves through the banks’ correspondent accounts. The system supports formats compatible with SWIFT messages and formats based on ISO 20022, so banks do not have to rebuild their payment processing from scratch.

Where it comes up in an international payment

A payment goes through SPFS all the way only if both the sender’s bank and the beneficiary’s bank, or its correspondent, are connected to it. Most suppliers around the world have banks that are not connected to SPFS. So SPFS often covers only part of the route: for example, up to a correspondent bank in another country, from where the payment continues through a local system, say CIPS in China.

What to watch for

• Ask the bank or the agent exactly how the payment will reach the supplier’s bank. Your bank being connected to SPFS does not yet mean the payment will get through.
• The messaging channel does not change the document requirements. The payment purpose states the contract and the invoice, just as on any other route.
• Timing and fees on a route depend on the number of banks in the chain, not on the name of the channel.

We select a route for a specific country and currency from those that work on the payment date. More on the Route selection page.