The Logbook: A brief history of Telex, the predecessor to SWIFT

Behind most of the world’s international money transfers is the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications network, or SWIFT as it is more commonly known. According to SWIFT, over 11,000 global institutions are connected to the network, recording an average of ~34 million messages per day. In the modern era, SWIFT plays a dominant role in the world’s financial system. However, before SWIFT, there was another dominant messaging network called Telex.

The Telex network was a public network for teleprinters to relay messages to one another. The network was used by multiple industries, including banks and maritime businesses. Telex was the result of a Germany-led research program in the 1920s and was based on the use of existing telephone and telegraph networks. In 1933, the Deutsche Relchspost opened the world’s first Telex with 21 terminals connected to the network for communication.