By Anders Bylund, The Motley Fool
Publication Date: 2026-09-24 21:09:00
Let’s talk about international payments. I have news for you, courtesy of International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM), but a tiny history lesson seems appropriate first.
The Swift cooperative was founded in 1973 because banks wanted something better than Telex — a clunky international messaging system from the 1930s that just happened to handle payments. Swift didn’t invent new money. It just gave banks a better way to talk to each other across national borders.
Missed AI’s “Act 1”? Act 2 Could Be 15x Bigger. Most investors think they missed the AI boat because they didn’t buy Nvidia in 2005. But according to our analysts, we’re only at the end of “Act 1″—the R&D phase. “Act 2” is the global rollout. Continue »
Half a century later, Swift is pulling the same trick again. Blockchain technology was supposed to make it obsolete, but the group made it work with banks instead. On Sept. 24, IBM showed up with the adapter cables: its Digital…
