{ "title": "A Leap Forward on Cross-Border Payments", "publication": "IMF Blog, October 19, 2020", "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments", "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments", "overlayPath": "/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/index.md", "summary": "Progress to improve cross-border payments has been slow but is poised to accelerate due to a confluence of new technologies and renewed determination among policymakers.", "sections": [ { "heading": "Overview", "content": "- Progress to improve cross-border payments has been slow but is poised to accelerate due to a confluence of new technologies and renewed determination among policymakers.\n- Reforms aim to make cross-border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent, and more widely accessible.\n- A roadmap led by the Financial Stability Board, with wide institutional participation including the IMF, has been endorsed by the G20; it comprises concrete reforms, practical steps, and milestones with institutional accountability.\n- The IMF published a staff paper on the macro-financial implications of new forms of digital money available across borders, complementing the roadmap." }, { "heading": "Potential benefits and stakes", "content": "- Reforms could be transformative for:\n - The stability of the international monetary system.\n - Financial inclusion.\n - The efficiency of trade and financial markets.\n - Unlocking innovation and growth, particularly post-COVID-19.\n- Users affected range from large companies in less liquid markets, cost-conscious small- and medium-sized enterprises, to remittance senders and recipients." }, { "heading": "Key statistic on remittances", "content": "- There are 1 billion people sending and receiving remittances, which at an average cost of 7 percent are still double the target set by United Nations’ Development Goals." }, { "heading": "Four broad areas where cooperation is essential", "content": "- First: Design solutions with all countries in mind\n - Countries differ in implementation capacity, existing infrastructure, and financial sector development; solutions must reflect diverse users and needs.\n - Approaches span from improvements to existing systems (e.g., trustworthy digital identities essential for financial inclusion) to exploratory options (e.g., freely tradable digital currencies across borders).\n - Continued pursuit, testing, discussion, and selective discontinuation of solutions is essential.\n- Second: Overcome “inaction bias” and ensure wide applicability\n - Example: Operating hours of countries’ settlement systems must overlap to enable real-time settlement; interoperability requires technological, design, legal, and regulatory standards.\n - Cooperation ensures standards meet the needs of a broad community; the IMF can help convene this community.\n- Third: Build inclusive, multi-stakeholder solutions\n - Involve central banks, regulators, finance ministries, anti-trust agencies, data protection agencies, and international organizations.\n - Public and private sectors should cooperate: private sector to innovate and interact with users; public sector to regulate, supervise, and provide trust.\n - Public-private solutions should be explored where possible.\n- Fourth: Recognize and manage macro-financial spillovers\n - Policies in one country can affect others; new digital money issued in major reserve currencies could:\n - Improve domestic and cross-border payments.\n - Induce citizens abroad to forego domestic currency, especially in countries with high inflation and volatile exchange rates.\n - Potentially facilitate bank runs out of affected countries.\n - Source countries could face more volatile capital inflows and central bank balance sheet effects.\n - Uncertainty exists around whether capital account restrictions can be redesigned to avoid circumvention by digital money.\n - Use of digital money could raise significant risks to financial integrity.\n - These and other scenarios are detailed in the IMF staff paper." }, { "heading": "Global links and the IMF's role", "content": "- Transformations in cross-border payments can affect monetary policy, financial stability, capital flows, and international reserves, with implications for the international monetary system.\n- The IMF’s Articles of Agreement reflect an early recognition of the link to a multilateral system of payments.\n- The IMF plays an active role, working with other international organizations; near-universal membership can help ensure the digital revolution benefits people in all countries.\n- The IMF’s global perspective can help identify spillover effects and provide a common forum to address underlying policy dilemmas.\n\nTobias Adrian, Kristalina Georgieva. October 19, 2020.\n\n---\n\n\n References\n\n- عربي\n- Français,\n- 日本語\n- Português\n- paper\n- explored\n- October 19, 2020 Conference on Cross-Border Payments\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments" } ], "bullets": [ "[Markdown version](/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/index.md)", "[Structured JSON version](/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/index.json)", "[Bundle manifest](/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/bundle-manifest.json)", "Authors: Tobias Adrian, Kristalina Georgieva", "Published: October 19, 2020", "Progress to improve cross-border payments has been slow but is poised to accelerate due to a confluence of new technologies and renewed determination among policymakers.", "Reforms aim to make cross-border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent, and more widely accessible.", "A roadmap led by the Financial Stability Board, with wide institutional participation including the IMF, has been endorsed by the G20; it comprises concrete reforms, practical steps, and milestones with institutional accountability.", "The IMF published a staff paper on the macro-financial implications of new forms of digital money available across borders, complementing the roadmap.", "Reforms could be transformative for:", "Users affected range from large companies in less liquid markets, cost-conscious small- and medium-sized enterprises, to remittance senders and recipients.", "There are 1 billion people sending and receiving remittances, which at an average cost of 7 percent are still double the target set by United Nations’ Development Goals.", "First: Design solutions with all countries in mind", "Second: Overcome “inaction bias” and ensure wide applicability", "Third: Build inclusive, multi-stakeholder solutions", "Fourth: Recognize and manage macro-financial spillovers", "Transformations in cross-border payments can affect monetary policy, financial stability, capital flows, and international reserves, with implications for the international monetary system.", "The IMF’s Articles of Agreement reflect an early recognition of the link to a multilateral system of payments.", "The IMF plays an active role, working with other international organizations; near-universal membership can help ensure the digital revolution benefits people in all countries.", "The IMF’s global perspective can help identify spillover effects and provide a common forum to address underlying policy dilemmas.", "[عربي](https://www.imf.org/ar/News/Articles/2020/10/20/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments)", "[Français,](https://www.imf.org/fr/News/Articles/2020/10/20/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments)", "[日本語](https://www.imf.org/ja/News/Articles/2020/10/20/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments)", "[Português](https://www.imf.org/pt/News/Articles/2020/10/20/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments)", "[paper](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2020/10/17/Digital-Money-Across-Borders-Macro-Financial-Implications-49823)", "[explored](https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fintech-notes/Issues/2019/07/12/The-Rise-of-Digital-Money-47097)", "[October 19, 2020 Conference on Cross-Border Payments](https://www.imf.org/en/News/Seminars/Conferences/2020/10/19/cross-border-payment/)" ], "alternates": { "markdown": "/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/index.md", "json": "/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/index.json", "bundleManifest": "/en/blogs/articles/2020/10/19/blog-a-leap-forward-on-cross-border-payments/bundle-manifest.json" }, "generatedAtUtc": "2026-08-27T16:21:25.789Z" }