Iranian and Russian exporters can do transactions in national currencies after the two countries merged their financial message transfer systems, allowing banks to make direct payments without using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system.
The two countries have officially switched from the West’s SWIFT financial clearing system to a direct interbank transfer mechanism, the deputy head of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said.
Mohsen Karimi said the system allows companies in both countries to trade in their respective national currencies instead of using the dollar or euro.
"We have linked the financial correspondence networks of the two countries,” he explained, RT reported.
“This means that the banks of our two countries no longer need Switzerland to communicate with each other and commercial banks of both countries can establish brokerage relations with each other. The [Iranian] exporter can now charge the Russian side in rials and get money from them via Russian banks in Iran,” Karimi added, noting that the system also allows for payments in Russian rubles.
Belgium-based SWIFT is a high-security banking messaging system that enables financial transfers around the globe. While a number of countries have their own messaging systems, most global transactions are still conducted via SWIFT, the report added.