The Paytech Show 6.03: Cross-Border Payments in North America: Creating a United Ecosystem

Real-time payments are taking the world by storm, with the reliance on cash and cheque being tentatively left in the dust. In this episode of The Paytech Show, we take a look at the rapidly moving world of cross-border payments and why real-time is integral to a more globally connected future. Keeping to the theme, we travel across regions to speak to the fintech leaders in this space and learn more about their views on different payment methods and what that means for businesses and individuals alike. 

In Toronto, we sat down with Abdul Nashat, the CEO of real-time cross-border payments innovator Buckzy Payments Inc. Over in New York we spoke to Elena Whisler, the SVP, of Sales and Relationship Management of The Clearing House. And at home in London, we caught up with Stephen Grainger, the Executive Vice President and Head of Cross Border Services at Mastercard. 

“North America has certainly been a little bit slower when it comes to real-time and, from a regulatory standpoint, for setting up a platform for innovation,” explains Nashat. “There is a little bit of a catching up, specifically in the US and Canada, and so the ecosystem is healthy, and there is a lot of excitement for the things coming into play, centred around real-time payments and payment modernisation.” 

The rippling effect of real-time will extend exponentially to the global international payments ecosystem. Companies, like Buckzy, are developing solutions which will reduce the process of moving money from weeks, to days. 

“We have launched the IXB (immediate cross border) initiative,” said Whisler. “The immediate cross border payments is an initiative we start here EBA Clearing, as well as SWIFT, if we connect a real-time payment network here in the U.S. and one in Europe, what happens, what do we change, what do we facilitate, and what do we do? 

“We still want our businesses and individuals to have that same experience, whether you’re domestic state-to-to, or whether you’re going U.S. to Europe, Europe to the U.S.” 

Implementing these programmes to make money movement more seamless between both regions will also lead to the foundation of a more interconnected ecosystem. The Clearing House is currently in partnership with Buckzy to facilitate just that, showing how real-time is only attainable through the cementing of strong relationships. 

“Cross border payments is all about logistics,” details Stephen Grainger. “We’re working with organisations to help speed up the delivery of those payments and provide more certainty.” 

Certainty and security is the key when it comes to real-time. Along with the speed, it is the confidence that businesses and people need that their payment will come to them in full, on time. Join us as we get up close and personal with the power players in the field, who are putting in the work to make those goals a transparent reality.

Watch the Full Episode – Live on our LinkedIn at 2:30pm GMT