AscendantFX Capital Inc.
Case Objectives
Ascendant has been part of the Axletree family since 2019. Axletree was first brought
on board by the leadership team to help Ascendant:
- Establish a direct connection with Swift
- Boost STP rates while ensuring maximum payments security
- Build all-encompassing financial messaging capacity
- Leverage Swift gpi’s payments tracking functionality
- Process high-value payments for clients using Swift for treasury operations
- Maintain continued Swift connectivity through all updates
- Centralize compliance and develop a single point of access for all banking connections
The Challenge
As a payments service provider, Ascendant partnered with two main Swift member banks, but did not have a direct connection with Swift. With the introduction of Swift gpi, a trailblazing standard in financial payments in 2017, Ascendant saw an opportunity to improve their offerings. The updated Swift gpi enables faster, more efficient, and traceable international transactions. Becoming a Swift member and utilizing the full functionality of Swift gpi enabled Ascendant to offer improved services to businesses and financial institutions.
The initial goal of Ascendant getting their own BIC/Swift code and efficiently maintaining a Swift connection was unrealistic. To establish Swift connectivity, Ascendant needed to get sponsored by an existing Swift member bank. Additionally, it was felt that a dedicated Swift IT team would be required to handle the frequent technology updates rolled out by Swift. Going down this route was going to be costly, require extensive resource management, and prolong the connection initiation process. As a result, Ascendant began its search for a better alternative.
Partnering with Axletree
Ascendant reached out to multiple financial technology firms specializing in Swift services, evaluating them on multiple points including their technology expertise, experience, and pricing. Axletree stood out across all three verticals, enabling Ascendant to create a next generation product that incorporates payment tracking information, creating a real time experience for the customer.
Axletree’s Solution
Axletree’s team of Swift experts, technical engineers, and finance consultants were confident that they could help Ascendant join Swift. Axletree’s CEO, Mohan Murali, worked directly with the Ascendant team to connect them with key resources and to speed up Ascendant’s registration as a supervised Swift member, removing the need for bank sponsorships.
In addition to guiding Ascendant’s Swift membership and handling the technical requirements of establishing the Swift connection, Axletree also enabled adoption of Swift gpi through their leading financial message transformation and integration platform, Symmetree. Symmetree enables Ascendant to deliver streamlined payments while benefiting from a single point of access for all banking connections.
Symmetree was integrated with Ascendant’s technology infrastructure, converting all incoming and outgoing financial messages into the required Swift messaging formats. Axletree now handles MT-MX format conversions on Ascendant’s behalf. Axletree also provides a single dashboard with a view of the status of transactions and their gpi status. The dashboard links all transaction communications between the banks and Ascendant to a single view.
Going Above and Beyond
“Axletree had the IT infrastructure in place that would allow us to keep up with Swift updates, had the scalability factor we were looking for, and the financial messaging conversion capacity that was appealing to us. Axletree was also the most economical option and provided us with a lot of peripheral benefits.” – Shemina Jiwani, Chief Operating Officer at Ascendant.
As a Canadian entity regulated by FINTRAC Canadian financial authorities, Ascendant wasn’t able join as a Supervised Financial Institution but rather as a non-supervised entity. Unable to register as a Swift member without obtaining the required documentation, Ascendant had to pivot and apply under a US entity to gain Supervised Financial Institution status.
Axletree understood the challenges Ascendant was facing and rallied around the team to simplify procedures – helping them pivot and get registered as a Swift member under a designated United States entity. Axletree handled the complete scope of technical work required to see the project to a successful end.
The Impact
Ascendant is now:
- A Swift member
- One of the only payment service providers offering their clients payment tracking information
- Providing direct access to real-time payment information to payees of Ascendant clients
- Leveraging the full potential of Swift and Swift gpi
- Maintaining higher STP rates
- Exploring further opportunities created by Swift gpi
The Outlook
After completion of the project, Axletree was onboarded as Ascendant’s Swift technology partner, and we remain on call to address the firm’s Swift needs as and when they arise.
“The team we were working with [at Axletree] were brilliant. Everyone was knowledgeable, guided us, and pointed us in the right direction” – Sava Ruljic, Treasury Director at Ascendant