Missed the live session? Here’s what you need to know – and why you’ll want to catch the full recording.
ACI Worldwide and The Paypers recently hosted an exclusive three-part virtual summit that gathered industry leaders, innovators, and policymakers to explore the rapidly evolving payments landscape. From the rise of agentic commerce to real-time cross-border infrastructure and collaborative fraud defence, this series dives into the technologies, strategies, and partnerships shaping the future of global payments.
As the global economy becomes more interconnected, the demand for faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border payments is growing rapidly. This was the focus of the second part of the summit, The Race to Real-Time: Transforming Cross-Border Payments for a New Era.
The webinar featured leading voices in the payments industry—Philip Bruno (ACI Worldwide), Gottfried Leibbrandt (CLS Group), and Pat Patel (GFTN)—who shared insights on the G20’s payments vision, real-time initiatives, the importance of interoperability, barriers to integration, and the role of digital currencies in real-time payments.
The G20 has set out a clear vision: by 2027, cross-border payments should be significantly improved in terms of cost, speed, accessibility, and transparency. This vision is underpinned by a detailed roadmap, with regular progress updates and quantitative targets. The urgency is clear – many cross-border payment systems remain slow, costly, and lacking in transparency, creating significant challenges for individuals, businesses, and financial institutions.
A central theme of the discussion was the accelerating momentum behind real-time payment initiatives worldwide. Swift’s Global Payments Innovation (GPI) emerged as a key example, illustrating how the integration of domestic real-time systems with GPI is making instant cross-border payments not only possible but increasingly efficient.
In Asia, efforts like Nexus are working to connect national instant payment systems, paving the way for seamless cross-border transactions. Project Agora is experimenting with tokenization for wholesale payments, while Ant Group is pushing ahead with initiatives to link digital wallets across the region. These projects offer compelling alternatives to traditional card schemes and are expanding the reach and relevance of real-time payments.
The conversation also focused on where real-time cross-border capabilities could deliver the most value. Gottfried Leibbrandt outlined four key use cases: remittances and peer-to-peer transfers, ecommerce and consumer-to-business payments, B2B transactions, and financial flows like foreign exchange and securities. He noted that while areas like P2P are already seeing tangible benefits through linked domestic RTP systems, B2B payments remain a particularly promising space to watch.
All of this underscores the growing need for interoperability – both as a technical foundation and as a strategic priority for scaling real-time payments globally.
Interoperability—the ability of different systems and networks to work together—is a major theme. It is essential not only for payments but also for identity verification, data sharing, and regulatory compliance. Yet, fragmentation remains a major challenge. Siloed systems drive up operational costs and create inefficiencies, making it harder for banks and fintechs to deliver seamless cross-border experiences.
The panel emphasised that integrated ecosystems—where payments, identity, and compliance tools work together—are key to reducing fraud, increasing transparency, and streamlining operations. Achieving this level of integration requires both technological upgrades and regulatory alignment.
Philip Bruno added that although banks have made some headway, the pressure from new competitors is intensifying. Many institutions still have untapped opportunities to modernise, especially by upgrading their payments infrastructure and applying automation and AI, which he noted could reduce operational costs by as much as 60%.
As payments move toward real-time settlement, fraud prevention becomes more complex. The compressed timelines and lack of visibility into counterparties make cross-border transactions particularly vulnerable. Social engineering scams, where individuals are tricked into authorising payments, are on the rise. Some banks are introducing friction, such as cooling-off periods for large transfers, to combat these risks.
As cross-border payments rapidly evolve, stablecoins are emerging as a potential game-changer – especially in light of the G20’s goals to improve speed, cost-efficiency, accessibility, and transparency. Experts discussed both the promise and practical challenges of integrating stablecoins into the global payments landscape.
Pat Patel highlighted the massive growth of stablecoins, noting their expansion beyond cross-border payments into areas like B2B treasury, where they could significantly reduce costs. However, he pointed out that most activity remains USD-denominated, though geopolitical shifts may change this. Despite high volumes, stablecoins still account for only about 1% of Swift’s transaction volume, indicating plenty of room for growth.
Philip Bruno stressed the urgent need for robust, scalable infrastructure to support wider stablecoin adoption. Gottfried Leibbrandt added that stablecoins provide an alternative way to transact in U.S. dollars outside traditional banking but warned of key hurdles, including the need for clearer regulatory alignment, fraud risks tied to the irrevocable nature of stablecoin transactions, and ongoing AML concerns.
As Pat Patel summed up, “Every bank needs to have a stablecoin strategy – it’s not up for debate.” The ability to activate that strategy at the right time will be critical as the market continues to evolve.
One thing was certain: real-time cross-border payments are evolving quickly, and stablecoins are a major part of that story. But realising their full potential will require a combination of infrastructure investment, regulatory clarity, smarter fraud controls, and strategic foresight from banks.
The panellists stressed that banks must take a more strategic and focused approach to serving different segments of the cross-border market. Whether supporting small business suppliers, managing large corporate deals, or facilitating trade finance, banks need to decide where to invest and whether to build internally or partner externally. Acting quickly is essential, as competitors are already moving ahead.
This webinar addressed a wide range of topics – this summary provides only an overview of the key insights discussed. To dive deeper into the insights, challenges, and strategies shaping the future of cross-border real-time payments, be sure to watch the full recording here.
You can watch the first part of the summit, Agentic Commerce: The Final Frontier of Payments, here.
About Oana Ifrim
Oana Ifrim is Lead Editor and content strategist for The Paypers’ Banking and Fintech team. She writes and manages features on a broad range of topics, including fintech, banking, payments, and industry trends, driving the editorial vision for cutting-edge topics, including payments infrastructure, Open Banking, Open Finance, Embedded Finance, and Banking-as-a-Service. As an experienced editor and content lead, she oversees content creation and coverage, conducts expert interviews, and moderates video interviews, industry webinars, and panels. Oana also leads thought leadership initiatives, including whitepapers, customised projects, and in-depth industry reports. In addition to her editorial role, she represents The Paypers at major industry events, engaging with experts, gaining valuable insights, and staying ahead of key industry trends. She can be reached at oana@thepaypers.com or on LinkedIn.
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