Leigh Amaro, Head of North America at Swift | Episode 433

Swift's colossal impact on global finance remains largely invisible to most people, yet its messaging infrastructure moves the world's entire GDP every 2-3 days. Leigh Amaro, Head of North America for Swift, pulls back the curtain on this financial powerhouse in a fascinating conversation about the present and future of global payments.

Founded in 1970 as a cooperative, Swift now connects approximately 11,000 financial institutions across 200 countries, processing an astounding 50+ million messages daily with just 3,000 employees worldwide. "We're like the backbone of financial services around the world," Amaro explains, highlighting Swift's role in providing secure messaging and value-added services like sanction screening and fraud detection.

The payments landscape has transformed dramatically in recent years. What was once a "black box" process with unpredictable delivery times has evolved into a system where 90% of payments reach beneficiaries within one hour. This revolution in transparency comes through innovations like Swift's GPI tracker, addressing a major pain point for corporate treasurers who previously couldn't predict when payments would arrive.

Looking forward, several developments promise to reshape global payments. The implementation of ISO 20022 in November will create a richer data layer enabling enhanced compliance, error reduction, and automation. Digital assets - including tokenized money and stablecoins - represent another frontier where Swift aims to support financial institutions through secure messaging. Meanwhile, AI continues to transform fraud detection and pattern recognition across the payment ecosystem.

Amaro's passion for women's education and mentorship shines through as she shares the story of her great-grandmother, born in 1905, who emphasized education's importance despite having to leave school at age 11. This personal connection drives her work supporting women in technology and developing mentorship communities. Her advice for those entering payments? "Trust yourself more and don't wait for permission. No one has it figured out, no one's got all the answers... The sooner you believe in yourself, the sooner others will too."