What Recent Innovations in Real-Time Cross-Border Payments Could Mean for Faster Global Transactions

The world’s money can now move faster than ever. Real-time payment systems have transformed how people and businesses send money domestically in over 100 countries.

As a result, many consumers now expect transfers to clear in seconds, not days. Similarly, businesses expect 24/7 visibility into payments and real-time confirmation, and banks are expected to deliver continuous uptime and more liquidity.

But while real-time payment systems like India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the US’s FedNow network are built to meet these demands locally, they rarely do so globally. A transfer that can settle instantly in London or Delhi can still take days to reach New York via the correspondent banking system. This disconnect between local and global financial flows adds time, cost, and uncertainty for everyone from enterprises managing cash flows to payment processors managing risk.

Let’s take a closer look at how real-time payments work, why they’re largely confined within national boundaries, and what is needed to bring real-time settlement to the cross-border payment landscape.

What are real-time payments?

Real-time payments are transactions where fund clearing, settlement, and confirmation are completed near-instantly, often in minutes or even seconds (typically 24 hours a day, year-round). Once a real-time payment is initiated, the funds are immediately debited from the sender’s account and made available to the receiver, with both parties notified almost instantly.

Real-time payment systems differ significantly from older payment rails like Automated Clearing House (ACH) and traditional wire transfers. ACH payments often rely on batch processing and daily settlement windows, while wire transfers can take hours or even days, especially across jurisdictions. On the other hand, real-time payments are designed for continuous, automated operation, which unlocks multiple benefits for institutions and individuals alike.

Benefits of real-time payments

Real-time payment systems enable a wide range of institutional and individual users to transact more efficiently. As a result, the volume of real-time payments made worldwide is expected to surpass 575 billion transactions annually by 2028, representing approximately 27.1% of all electronic payments globally.

Key benefits of real-time payments include:

• Near-instant settlement and access to funds
• Improved liquidity and working capital management
• Enhanced transparency and reconciliation
• Broader financial inclusion through digital access
• Continuous 24/7 activity and availability

For companies, the ability to move money in real time plays a big role in their competitive advantage. And in markets like India and Brazil, where UPI and Pix, Brazil’s real-time payment system, have seen mass adoption, these real-time payment systems have accelerated financial inclusion by giving many users their first experience with digital money movement.

How real-time payments work domestically

At a high level, most domestic real-time payments follow the same essential process: a transaction is initiated by a payer, validated by a financial institution, routed through a clearing infrastructure, and credited to the payee’s account, all within a few seconds.

In practice, this means when a consumer in the UK uses Faster Payments to send money, or a business in India pays an invoice through UPI, the transaction posts in seconds. Settlement finality is achieved almost instantly, and the payment can’t be revoked or reversed. This model provides certainty for both payer and payee, enabling better cash management and liquidity control.

Today’s domestic real-time payments systems operate through a combination of shared infrastructure, regulatory oversight, and automated technology. While the details of each network varies a bit by country, most follow a similar process built on these core components:

• Clearing and settlement infrastructure: Clearing and settlement are what move money between accounts and record the transaction in real time. These functions are managed by a central authority such as a central bank or regulated operator, using prefunded accounts or liquidity reserves — typically funded by participating banks — to enable real-time completion. Because each bank must maintain sufficient balances in advance, the system strives to minimize settlement risk, though it requires institutions to manage liquidity carefully to avoid shortfalls.
• Continuous operation and data standardization: Most systems run 24/7, allowing payments to move at any time of day or week. They rely on standardized messaging formats like ISO 20022, which improve transparency and data quality but are often customized locally, limiting cross-border compatibility.
• Security, risk management, and authentication: Because transactions settle in real time, security measures are embedded directly into the process. Systems use tools like multifactor authentication and real-time fraud monitoring to identify suspicious activity while keeping legitimate payments frictionless.
• Settlement finality and confirmation: Once funds are transferred, settlement is immediate and cannot be reversed except through a new transaction. Each network sends instant confirmation messages, letting participants know when payments have cleared and making real-time systems highly transparent and dependable.

Real-time payments ecosystem participants

The rise of real-time payments has benefited everyone in the value chain by making transactions faster and more transparent. But despite these gains, each participant still faces challenges that highlight where today’s real-time payments systems can evolve further.

Banks and financial institutions

Banks are at the center of every real-time payments network. They maintain settlement accounts, process transactions, and comply with national regulations. Real-time capabilities have allowed banks to improve customer service and meet growing demand for 24/7 financial access.

However, most banks still rely on legacy systems that were not designed for continuous operation. Integrating real-time functionality often requires costly upgrades and new liquidity management frameworks. While these investments pay off domestically, banks face challenges extending the same speed and transparency across borders, where existing infrastructure remains fragmented.

Business users

For businesses, real-time payments create opportunities for greater cash visibility and faster business cycles. Real-time settlement allows finance teams to manage liquidity more dynamically and reduce exposure to counterparty risk. It also improves supply chain efficiency by enabling payments to be received the moment goods or services are delivered.

That said, multinational corporations still face delays when transferring funds between subsidiaries in different jurisdictions. Varying banking hours, compliance requirements, and FX conversion costs can all reintroduce friction, even in a world where domestic payments move in real time.

Fintechs and payment service providers

Payment service providers (PSPs) and fintechs have been crucial in expanding access to real-time payments. They build APIs, gateways, and digital tools that help businesses connect to multiple domestic networks. By simplifying onboarding and reconciliation, they make real-time infrastructure more accessible to non-bank participants.

Still, these firms depend on the same domestic settlement systems as banks. Even the most advanced PSPs must manage liquidity and compliance separately across every jurisdiction they operate in. Their innovations have improved the user experience of payments but cannot overcome the structural limitations of siloed national systems.

Central banks and policymakers

Central banks and policymakers have championed real-time payments as part of broader financial modernization efforts. These systems align with goals such as promoting inclusion, reducing reliance on cash, and increasing transparency in the flow of money. For many countries, they represent a key step toward digital financial sovereignty.

However, central banks primarily focus on national outcomes rather than international connectivity. Each financial institution operates under different mandates, currencies, and regulatory priorities. As a result, global cooperation on real-time cross-border payments has been slow, despite growing recognition of its importance for trade and capital flows.

The challenge of real-time cross-border payments

While real-time payments have transformed how money moves within countries, most systems still operate as isolated networks. Each one is built on its own infrastructure, liquidity model, and regulatory framework. That fragmentation makes it far easier to move money quickly within a market than between markets. Even when both sender and receiver use real-time systems, those networks rarely connect, and intermediaries such as correspondent banks must still handle currency conversion and compliance checks.

Real-time cross-border payment frictions center on four key challenges:

• Infrastructure fragmentation: Without direct interlinks or shared protocols between individual payment systems, payments must leave one system entirely before entering another.
• Regulatory misalignment: Rules on data privacy, Anti–Money Laundering (AML), and sanctions vary across jurisdictions, hindering real-time data sharing and compliance enforcement.
• Data and messaging inconsistencies: Even when systems use ISO 20022 to standardize payment information, each country tailors its implementation differently, which reduces interoperability across markets.
• Liquidity and settlement constraints: Real-time networks depend on prefunded accounts or intraday liquidity management that works within a single currency zone. 

The shift toward truly global real-time payments

The next phase of real-time payments innovation focuses on connecting domestic systems into a unified global framework.

Modern cross-border infrastructure must deliver these essential capabilities:

• Speed and settlement finality: Payments should move and clear across currencies and countries in real time so domestic and international financial flows are aligned.
• Interoperability and standardization: Systems must use common data standards and messaging formats so banks, payment providers, and enterprises can transact frictionlessly across markets.
• Embedded compliance: Regulatory safeguards and reporting should operate automatically within each transaction to promote real-time oversight and trust.
• Shared liquidity: Participants should have access to pooled, always-available liquidity that allows payments to settle continuously across currencies and time zones.

This evolution reflects a broader shift in the global financial system. Bilateral connections and regional initiatives are early steps, but a fully interoperable model will require open, programmable networks designed for real-time settlement across jurisdictions.

As enterprises and consumers increasingly demand faster, more reliable transactions, real-time cross-border payments will define the next generation of international finance.

Circle Payments Network: Taking real-time payments global 

The modernization of global payments requires infrastructure that combines the speed of domestic real-time payments with the reach of international settlement. Circle Payments Network (CPN)¹ represents this evolution, offering an interoperable and programmable framework that connects banks, PSPs, VASPs, and enterprises on shared, compliance-ready rails.

CPN acts as a bridge between the world of modern digital assets and the regulated financial system, merging the speed, reach, and efficiency of blockchain with financial infrastructure. Within this system, businesses can move funds between subsidiaries, pay suppliers, or settle marketplace transactions near-instantly across currencies, countries, and time zones. And, at an organizational level, treasury teams can gain continuous visibility into global liquidity positions, while counterparties benefit from faster settlement and lower operational costs.

As the world’s real-time payment systems continue to serve domestic markets, CPN represents a giant leap forward in global payments and finance. Those interested in joining the network can learn more in our guide and request to join through the official CPN webpage.

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¹ Circle Technology Services, LLC (CTS) is the operator of Circle Payments Network (CPN) and offers products and services to financial institutions that participate in CPN to facilitate their CPN access and integration. CPN connects participating financial institutions around the world, with CTS serving as the technology service provider to participating financial institutions. While CTS does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable the global ecosystem of participating financial institutions to connect directly with each other, communicate securely, and settle directly with each other. CTS is not a party to transactions between participating financial institutions facilitated by CPN who use CPN to execute transactions at their own risk. Use of CPN is subject to the CPN Rules and the CPN Participation Agreement between CTS and a participating financial institution.