Moving money across borders has always been friction wrapped in fees. You initiate a wire transfer. It hops through three or four banks. Each one takes a cut. Two to five days later, it arrives — minus a chunk you didn’t fully anticipate.

We’ve lived with this for decades. But something is shifting.

Not the fintech marketing — the actual plumbing.

Where is real progress happening?

A few places are genuinely interesting.

First, instant payment networks are starting to talk to each other. Singapore’s PayNow now connects to India’s UPI and Thailand’s PromptPay. Money moves in minutes. Not through correspondent banks. Through direct rails. The ASEAN region is building something called Project Nexus to link five countries’ domestic instant payment systems. Europe’s SEPA Instant now reaches virtually every eurozone bank account.

This is real infrastructure. Not a wrapper on the old system.

Second, SWIFT — the network everyone loves to criticize — has actually improved. Their gpi system brought tracking (finally) and speed commitments. The average gpi payment now settles in under 30 minutes. Still uses correspondent banks. Still has fees. But measurably better than the black hole it used to be.

Third, central banks are experimenting with shared digital currency ledgers. Project mBridge connects China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and UAE on a common platform. Real transactions have happened. Settlement that used to take days now takes seconds. This is still early. But it’s not theory anymore.

Fourth, stablecoins are quietly solving specific corridors. Remittances to the Philippines. B2B payments between subsidiaries in different countries. Treasury movements avoiding FX desks. Not mainstream. But working.

What hasn’t changed?

For most B2B payments between major economies — US to China, US to Germany — you’re still on legacy rails. Faster, more transparent legacy rails. But legacy nonetheless.

And here’s the thing about solving problems.

You fix one issue, you create another.

Real-time settlement sounds great until your treasury team realizes they can no longer predict cash positions the way they used to. Connecting to multiple rail systems means managing multiple compliance frameworks. Decentralized payment infrastructure means more endpoints to secure.

This is the nature of progress. The problem transforms.

What should you watch?

The corridor matters more than the technology. US-Europe is improving. Intra-ASEAN is excellent. Africa is building its own system (PAPSS) to reduce dependency on the dollar for intra-continental trade. US-China? Still stuck.

If you’re a payment leader, the strategic move is building optionality. Don’t bet on one rail. Build the architecture to shift volume as new infrastructure matures.

The rails are improving. Just not uniformly.

#CrossBorderPayments #Payments #Fintech