Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS) is a secure messaging standard developed to serve as a platform for intra-bank and inter-bank applications. It is an Indian standard similar to

SWIFT Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

(Society for World-wide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) which is the international messaging system used for financial messaging globally. SFMS can be used for secure communication within the bank and between banks. The SFMS was launched on December 14, 2001 at

IDRBT The Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) is an engineering training institution exclusively focused on banking technology. Established by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 1996, the institution works at the inte ...

. It allows the definition of message structures, message formats, and authorization of the same for usage by the financial community. SFMS has a number of features and it is a modularized and web enabled software, with a flexible architecture facilitating centralized or distributed deployment. The access control is through Smart Card based user access and messages are secured by means of standard encryption and authentication services conforming to ISO standards. The intra-bank part of SFMS is used by banks to take full advantage of the secure messaging facility it provides. The inter-bank messaging part is used by applications like

electronic funds transfer Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems, without the direct intervention of b ...

(EFT),

real time gross settlement Real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems are specialist funds transfer systems where the transfer of money or securities takes place from one bank to any other bank on a "real-time" and on a " gross" basis. Settlement in "real time" means a payme ...

systems (RTGS), delivery versus payments (DVP), centralized funds management systems (CFMS) and others. The SFMS provides

application program interfaces An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how t ...

(APIs), which can be used to integrate existing and future applications with the SFMS. Several banks have integrated it with their core or centralized banking software.

References

Banking in India Real-time gross settlement Payment networks {{Finance-stub