Beyond Borders: Architecting Cross-Jurisdictional Payment Networks in a Fragmented World

The cost, speed, and reliability of cross-border payments remain pressing challenges despite efforts to converge on technical solutions and new service offerings. These payments constitute a comparatively small value flow against the total international trade and financial flows, yet they remain a significant cost to many individuals and businesses and thereby hold economic and social importance. The high costs and lack of reliable service providers are especially challenging for small and medium enterprises that may not be able to absorb output losses caused by cross-border payment delays. As a result, many small cross-border transactions, such as remittances, are relatively costly compared to domestic payments, and the costs seem to fall disproportionately on poorer populations.