A few days ago, Ukraine requested that among the sanctions that would have to be imposed on Russia would be the expulsion of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a banking system used for international shipments, which was finally executed this Saturday.

Although the measure does not include all banking institutions in Russia, as announced by the governments of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada, together with the European Commission.

“Russia’s war represents an assault on fundamental international norms and laws that have prevailed since World War II, which we pledge to uphold. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin,” the countries said in a joint statement.

A few hours earlier, sources told NBC News that the Joe Biden administration supported hitting Russia via SWIFT if there was consensus among European allies.

What is SWIFT and what is it for?

This mechanism is used to send money from one country to another, so to carry out this procedure a SWIFT code is required through which the bank is told the place to which the resources are to be sent, that is, It is similar to adding a contact from another country to WhatsApp.

This code has the objective of increasing security at the time of international money transfers, since it eradicates errors, reduces waiting times and avoids additional costs.