Swift puts the squeeze on Sibos-goers with steep price hikes for 2010

International banking network Swift is imposing substantial price hikes on delegates and exhibitors attending its annual Sibos event in 2010, in a move it says will align the pricing "with the event's market position and value".

The new pricing regime will come as a shock to market participants after Swift effectively froze prices for this year's event in Hong Kong and cancelled its traditional end-of-event party in reponse to the global economic crisis.

Under the revised pricing structure, delegates attending next year's show in Amsterdam will be charged EUR2800 for a week-long pass, a 27% price hike over the EUR2200 fee for Hong Kong. Day passes to the event have also been adjusted upwards to EUR950 from EUR810 (with lunch) in 2009.

The 200+ banks and technology companies exhibiting at the event will also be expected to dig deeper to fund their presence in Amsterdam. In Hong Kong, EUR13,500 would have paid for a 24 sqm unit and four delegate passes. In Amsterdam, the equivalent space will be charged out at EUR14,000 and will include just three free delegate passes, representing a 24% increase year-on-year. The cost of housing a stand partner is also up from EUR2000 to EUR2500.

The banking co-operative says the new pricing structure follows a comprehensive benchmarking exercise to review Sibos in the context of 19 other industry events.

In a statement, Swift says: "The review confirmed that the value of Sibos to its participants is significantly higher than other industry conferences, whilst the cost of participation is significantly lower."

Under pressure from its users to bring message costs down while contending with declining traffic volumes, Swift has set its sights on stripping EUR90 million out of its overall running costs and improving efficiency levels by 30% in 2010, compared to 2008.

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