(11 July 2025 – Global) Initial bank resistance to ambitious G20 cross-border payment improvement targets by 2027 have given way to growing urgency to enabling faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive international payments.
A key inclusion target mandates that all financial institutions (FIs) must access infrastructure for cross-border payments, eliminating reliance on correspondent banks. A new global real-time payment and settlement infrastructure is set to meet these targets. It offers fair pricing for all banks, simplifies cross-border processes, uses central bank money (not crypto), and promotes equal access, providing a practical and sustainable solution to modernise global payments.
Among the most impactful targets is the one related to inclusion, referred to as Access. This requirement states that all financial institutions must have access to at least one infrastructure that enables them to send and receive cross border payments, and that this access must extend to their customers.
The long term success of any global infrastructure depends on one vital principle – a fair and level playing field for banks of all sizes and countries of all financial levels or statuses.
“Today, nearly five years later, the G20 cross-border payments program is in an implementation phase. There is clear global momentum, and promising developments are underway, including harmonised market practices based on ISO 20022 and the growing use of fast payment systems for cross-border transactions. The ambitions of Big Tech to enter the cross-border payments space have not faded. Interest in stablecoins is at an all-time high, and even Meta is reportedly considering a return to the field” commented Sveriges Riksbank Payments Department Advisor, Reimo Juks.