FSB Enhances Cross-Border Payments Through Public-Private Partnership

Press Press Releases FSB kicks off new implementation phase to enhance cross-border payments through public-private partnership
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Ref: 3/2026

• At the FSB Cross-border Payments summit, FSB Chair Andrew Bailey renews commitment to the goals of the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, urging intensified action from authorities and the industry.
• The FSB will ask its members to develop action plans, identifying practical steps and priorities for enhancing payment systems within their jurisdictions and at broader regional level.
• The Institute of International Finance and Swift also outlined initiatives aimed at supporting progress towards the Roadmap’s goals. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) held the FSB Cross-border Payments Summit today in London to take stock of efforts to make cross border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent and more accessible. Hosted by the Bank of England, the Summit brought together senior policymakers and industry leaders to kick off a new implementation phase of the work.

“There are few issues in our responsibilities that have as universal a reach as cross‑border payments”, said Andrew Bailey, Chair of the FSB, in his opening speech. “The clear message from today’s Summit is that we are not stopping until the job of making a genuine difference to the user experience of cross-border payments is done. Strong commitment and collective action from both the public and private sector are essential for delivering on the Roadmap’s goals.”

The next phase of work will focus on two key aspects: encouraging the development of jurisdictional and regional action plans by public authorities to drive domestic and regional implementation; and the promotion of private-sector action and closer private-public collaboration, with industry playing a decisive role in delivering real benefits for end users.

At the Summit, participants discussed public and private-sector initiatives undertaken so far to advance the Roadmap’s goals, explored ways to accelerate implementation to ensure progress as the end-2027 deadline approaches, and discussed the future of the cross-border payments ecosystem.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) committed to working with its members throughout 2026 to assess how the external environment has changed since the Roadmap was first published in 2020 and how the Roadmap may need to evolve in response. “The operating environment has shifted, and progress has been made in important areas of cross-border payments”, said Tim Adams, CEO of the IIF. “We have new options for sending payments, enabled by new technologies, while, at the same time, growing payments fraud requires security to retake a prominent place in the agenda.” The IIF will produce a report later this year with the findings of its assessment and industry recommendations for a path forward for the G20 cross-border payments agenda. The IIF will convene stakeholders alongside the upcoming IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings to kick off this work.

Swift is driving global industry action. Currently, 75% of payments reach beneficiary banks in just 10 minutes, with many arriving in seconds. Last week, Swift announced that banks would introduce a new retail payments framework by June, ensuring consumer payments over Swift benefit from the fastest possible speeds, cost certainty and end-to-end transparency. In parallel, Swift is creating infrastructure for the future by integrating a shared, blockchain-based ledger, initially targeting 24/7 real-time cross-border payments. Javier Pérez-Tasso, CEO of Swift, said: “We’ve driven significant improvements since the G20 targets were introduced, especially between banks. And now we’re taking that a step further, innovating and collaborating with both the public and private sectors to drive unified action on improving the end-to-end payments experience.”

“Without genuine public-private collaboration, the G20 Roadmap risks remaining just an agenda. Our goal is real-world outcomes, at system level”, emphasised Fabio Panetta, Governor of the Bank of Italy and Co-Chair of the FSB’s Cross-border Payments Coordination Group, in his closing remarks, Mr Panetta underscored the importance of joint action to modernise payment infrastructures, foster greater harmonisation and interoperability, and leverage technology to enhance transparency and compliance automation. “We should never lose sight of the human dimension: every improvement in speed, transparency and cost efficiency translates into meaningful and tangible enhancements to people’s lives. That is a key reason why this work matters.”

Notes to editors

In 2020, the FSB, in coordination with the CPMI and other relevant international organisations and standard-setting bodies, developed the G20 Roadmap to enhance cross-border payments, at the request of the Saudi Arabian G20 Presidency. In 2023, the FSB, in collaboration with the CPMI, prioritised the actions that were considered to be most impactful in progressing towards the G20 Roadmap goals, with the aim of achieving significant improvements by the end of 2027.

The FSB coordinates at the international level the work of national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies and develops and promotes the implementation of effective regulatory, supervisory, and other financial sector policies in the interest of financial stability. It brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability in 24 countries and jurisdictions, international financial institutions, sector-specific international groupings of regulators and supervisors, and committees of central bank experts. The FSB also conducts outreach with approximately 70 other jurisdictions through its six Regional Consultative Groups.

The FSB is chaired by Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England. The FSB Secretariat is located in Basel, Switzerland and hosted by the Bank for International Settlements.

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