The central banks of Thailand, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines are collaborating to establish an instant cross-border retail payments platform by 2026, as announced by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) on Monday.
BIS, known as the central bankers’ central bank, aims to interconnect the instant digital payment systems of each country, such as India’s United Payment Interface (UPI) and Singapore’s PayNow, through Project Nexus, an initiative designed to improve cross-border payments.
India, along with the other four countries, will form the core members of the platform, while Indonesia will have a role as a special observer, according to BIS.
Agustín Carstens, the general manager of BIS, highlighted the significant potential of Nexus, even with the initial group of connected countries, which could link a market of 1.7 billion people worldwide, facilitating easy and cost-effective instant payments among them.
