Examining Banks' Cross-Border Payment Approaches in the Year 2024
In the ever-evolving world of banking, the first half of 2024 saw a significant shift in cross-border payment services. Major banks have been announcing partnerships aimed at enhancing speed, reducing costs, and expanding service reach. Here's a snapshot of some key collaborations:
- Inecobank and The Bank of New York Mellon Announced in August 2025, though likely planned in 2024, this partnership enables faster, more secure USD transfers globally with commission-free processing temporarily. It also broadens institutional services to support cross-border expansion in Armenia.
- Fidelity Bank and PAPSS platform in Nigeria Fidelity Bank's integration with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System facilitates instant, local currency cross-border payments within Africa. This benefits SMEs by lowering trade barriers and supports the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) vision.
- Hana Bank and BIDV (Vietnam) This collaboration promotes cross-border QR code payment services to enhance digital finance cooperation between South Korea and Vietnam. It improves accessibility and security for individuals and businesses, helping small merchants and tourists transact seamlessly.
Beyond these partnerships, the sector has seen developments like Citi and Mastercard's collaborations enabling real-time payments, and fintech innovations leveraging blockchain technologies for instant international transactions.
These developments contribute to a sector-wide transformation towards faster, cheaper, more secure, and inclusive cross-border transaction systems. They improve transaction speed and reduce costs, particularly benefiting SMEs and cross-border retail users. Digital innovation and expanded services modernize banking services and financial inclusion across regions.
Increased cross-border trade facilitation, especially in emerging markets like Africa, is another notable impact. The competitive pressure on incumbents forces banks to collaborate or innovate to stay relevant amid fintech advances and changes in customer expectations.
Despite the numerous developments, the report does not discuss potential challenges or risks associated with these developments or cross-border partnerships. It also does not mention specific banks or companies involved in these collaborations or the impact on overall competition in the cross-border payments sector.
Europe and Asia witnessed a high volume of cross-border developments in the banking sector, with banks seeking to improve their cross-border payments offerings or launch new ventures to capture the demand for easier payments. However, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of developments related to crypto and digital offerings in cross-border payments.
This report aims to highlight key trends in the cross-border payments sector, providing insights into how banks are enhancing their cross-border payment services and the companies they are partnering with to bolster their products or add new capabilities.
Investing in the banking sector, particularly in cross-border payment services, could yield significant returns due to the numerous partnerships and innovations introduced by major banks. For instance, Fidelity Bank's collaboration with the PAPSS platform in Nigeria is poised to lower trade barriers for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Africa, while Hana Bank's partnership with BIDV (Vietnam) strengthens digital finance cooperation between South Korea and Vietnam. These developments underscore the business potential in cross-border payments, with finance companies striving to provide faster, cheaper, and more secure transaction systems.
