The Financial Stability Board (FSB) hosted its Cross-border Payments Summit in London today, gathering senior policymakers and industry stakeholders to begin a new implementation phase of efforts aimed at improving cross-border payments.
The event, organised by the Bank of England, focused on making international transactions more cost-effective, quicker, transparent, and accessible.
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Discussions at the summit centred on encouraging authorities in different jurisdictions to create local and regional action plans, as well as advancing cooperation between public institutions and private companies.
Participants examined the progress of current initiatives related to the FSB’s Roadmap, discussed methods to accelerate their implementation ahead of a 2027 target date, and considered potential developments for the sector.
The Institute of International Finance (IIF) stated it will work with its members through to 2026 to review changes in the environment since the roadmap was set out in 2020.
The IIF intends to release a report later this year with its findings and recommendations for the G20’s agenda on cross-border payments.
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By GlobalDataIt will also bring together stakeholders during upcoming IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings to start this work.
On the industry side, Swift reported that 75% of payments via its systems now reach recipient banks within 10 minutes, with many arriving even faster.
The company recently announced banks will introduce a new retail payment system by June to enable faster consumer payments, certainty over costs, and improved transparency.
Swift is also developing a shared blockchain-based ledger to support 24/7 real-time cross-border payments.
The FSB introduced its cross-border payments Roadmap in 2020 at the request of Saudi Arabia’s G20 Presidency, working alongside the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and other international organisations.
In 2023, key priorities for achieving significant progress by the end of 2027 were identified by the FSB and CPMI.
FSB chair Andrew Bailey said: “There are few issues in our responsibilities that have as universal a reach as crossborder payments.
“The clear message from today’s Summit is that we are not stopping until the job of making a genuine difference to the user experience of cross-border payments is done. Strong commitment and collective action from both the public and private sector are essential for delivering on the Roadmap’s goals.”
