## Global Cross-Border Payments: A $1 Quadrillion Evolving Market?

_IMF Working Papers, June 13, 2025_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Eugenio M Cerutti, Melih Firat, Martina Hengge
- Published: June 13, 2025
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229013505.001

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### Key findings on market size and composition
- The global cross-border traditional and crypto payment market approached a value of about one quadrillion dollars in 2024.
- Crypto payments represent only a small fraction of the total cross-border payments market despite a recent surge.
- Analysis focuses on data from Swift—the largest traditional cross-border financial messaging network—over 2021-24.

### Geography, institutions, and transaction structure
- Payments are predominantly concentrated in advanced economies.
- Cross-border flows are driven by financial institutions and large transactions.
- Aggregate dynamics mask substantial heterogeneity across:
  - message types (customer vs. financial related payments),
  - currencies,
  - transaction sizes.

### Currency usage and trends
- Currency usage remains stable, with the U.S. dollar maintaining the largest share.
- The Chinese renminbi demonstrates signs of increasing global integration, albeit from a low base.

### Determinants and empirical evidence
- Gravity model estimates confirm that traditional economic linkages shape cross-border payments, specifically:
  - trade,
  - portfolio investment,
  - foreign direct investment (FDI).
- Information asymmetries play a diminished role in larger payments.

### Subject classifications and keywords (as provided)
- Subjects: Balance of payments, Currencies, Foreign direct investment, Imports, International trade, Money, Portfolio investment.
- Keywords: cross-border payment, Cross-Border Payments, crypto payment market, Currencies, customer payment, Europe, FDI, financial institution payment, Foreign direct investment, Global, Imports, Networks, Portfolio Investment, quadrillion evolving market, Trade.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2025/06/13/global-cross-border-payments-a-1-quadrillion-evolving-market-567604_