THE NEXT GENERATION OF INTERNATIONAL PAYMENTS: FASTER, CHEAPER, SAFER? - Do banks need several days to settle transactions across borders? Can the cost of remittances be lowered? As the US rolls out FedNow, its instant payments network, and considers a CBDC, what’s next in the world of payments innovation?

2023 is shaping up to be a critical year for innovation in the payment infrastructure, as more than 100 countries around the world are exploring CBDCs, many of which are wholesale cross-border projects. Additionally, traditional payment players are evolving their own platforms to adapt to the rise of blockchain technology.

Josh Lipsky, Senior Director of the GeoEconomics Center gave opening remarks. Ananya Kumar, Associate Director for digital currencies at the GeoEconomics Center, was joined by Nick Kerigan, Head of Innovation Execution at SWIFT, Federico Grinberg, Economist in Payments, Currencies, and Infrastructures Division, Monetary and Capital Markets Department at the International Monetary Fund, Jesse McWaters, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Regulatory Advocacy at Mastercard and Nasreen Quibria, Senior Director and Head of Cross-Border Policy Engagement at Visa.

This event addressed complex questions on the evolution of major payments players, cross-border functionality of CBDCs, current Real Time Gross Settlement systems and their interaction with CBDCs and other platforms, as well as how new architectures will be built to facilitate faster, cheaper and safer payments.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 01/19/23