Solving the problems inherent in cross-border payments has been ongoing within the banking industry for some time. However, ever since G20 leaders in 2020 urged the industry to make cross-border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent and accessible by 2027, work has accelerated.
There are many initiatives at play, ranging from the migration to the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard being spearheaded by Swift, to the promotion of cryptocurrency stablecoins by many in the fintech community. One of this myriad of initiatives involves the interlinking of domestic real-time payment systems in order to support financial institutions, remove friction and speed up the process. However, while progress has been made, the trend remains limited to projects to establish bilateral links between financial institutions in Asia.
