Real-Time, Real Value: Delivering on the Promise of Cross-Border Payments

As cross-border payments move toward real-time, banks must modernize infrastructure to deliver faster, cheaper, and more transparent solutions that meet evolving demands. The challenge is significant, but so is the potential reward.

Key highlights:

1. Cross-border payments are evolving towards real-time processing, which aims to increase speed, reduce costs, improve transparency, and broaden access. Significant progress has already been made with 89% of payments over Swift now being processed within an hour.
2. Despite progress, significant challenges remain, including the fact that globally only 42% of cross-border payments are credited to beneficiaries within an hour and the average cost of sending a $200 remittance is still 6.3%.
3. Modernizing infrastructure is crucial for banks to compete effectively in this 24/7 world. This involves investing in real-time operations, leveraging industry shifts like ISO 20022 compliance, and harnessing technologies such as APIs, blockchain, and artificial intelligence.
4. Citi offers specific solutions like 24/7 USD Clearing, which is used by 240 banks in over 40 markets, and Real-Time Liquidity Sharing, enabling payments to be executed without pre-funding. Additionally, Citi® Token Services leverages blockchain to facilitate cross-border payments in as little as 90 seconds.