SWIFT: Yuan rises to 13th as world payment currency (2)

"But it's a very young currency in this marketplace and it takes many, many years to establish a currency," Wills said.

In recent years, the yuan, also known as the renminbi or RMB, has seen "very steady, very constant" growth in global payments, Wills said.

"It would be a natural expectation that it is going to be a very important currency, and continue to grow as an important currency," he said.

By loosening its grip on the country's capital account, the Chinese government has given foreign investors, manufacturers and traders greater incentive to hold yuan for investment or payment settlements, according to Gregory Chin, head of China research at the Center for International Governance Innovation, a Canadian think tank.

Increasing use of the yuan has compelled Daniel Hwang, chief currency strategist at Gallant Capital Markets in New York, to predict that US payments in yuan will increase this year.

Wills suggested that the yuan would increase its stature even further if it were adopted as a global benchmark for the commodities market.

According to SWIFT, which is a Belgium-based, member-owned cooperative, the euro remains the leading world-payments currency, accounting for 40.17 percent of transactions, down from 44.04 percent a year ago. Following the euro are the dollar with 33.48 percent, up from 29.73 percent in January 2012; the British pound with 8.55 percent, down from 9 percent; and the Japanese yen with 2.56 percent, up from 2.48 percent.

Next are the Australian dollar, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Singapore dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Thai baht, Swedish krona, and Norwegian krone.