04Nov
04Nov
Payment Orchestration: The ‘Smart-Routing’ Layer for Global Finance
Executive SummaryThe global payments landscape has become a complex, fragmented mesh of old and new "rails." A bank or large corporation wanting to send a payment now has a bewildering array of choices: slow and expensive legacy wires (SWIFT), low-cost domestic bulk payments (ACH), 24/7...
04Nov
Liquidity in a 24/7 World: Managing Settlement in Real-Time
Executive SummaryThe transition to 24/7/365 real-time payments (RTP) has created a profound, behind-the-scenes challenge for banks: liquidity management. In the old "next-day" payment world, banks only needed to ensure they were funded at the end of the business day. But in a real-time world, "end-of-day"...
04Nov
The ‘Last Mile’ Problem: Why Real-Time Payments Aren’t Always Real-Time
Executive SummaryA new generation of "Real-Time Payment" (RTP) networks like FedNow (US), SEPA Instant (Europe), and UPI (India) has promised a revolutionary, 24/7/365, "instant" payment experience. However, for many customers, this promise feels broken. A payment may be sent "instantly" by one bank, but it...
04Nov
The ‘Neobank’ Advantage: How Digital-First Banks are Winning International Business
Executive SummaryFor decades, international banking for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been notoriously slow, expensive, and opaque. Trapped by the high-fee structures and legacy technology of incumbent banks, businesses have accepted multi-day settlement times, 3-5% foreign exchange (FX) "spreads," and terrible user interfaces as...
04Nov
The Rise of ‘RegTech’: Can Technology Finally Solve Compliance?
Executive SummaryFor the past two decades, compliance has been the single greatest operational burden on international banks. In the post-9/11 and post-2008 financial crisis era, regulatory costs associated with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and sanctions screening have exploded, forcing banks to hire...
04Nov
Blockchain vs. Reality: What’s the Real Use Case for DLT in Trade Finance?
Executive SummaryFor years, blockchain—or more accurately, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)—has been hailed as a silver bullet for the centuries-old problems of trade finance. The vision was one of instant, paperless, and fraud-proof transactions. However, the initial hype has collided with the complex realities of international...
04Nov
CBDCs and the Future of Payments: Will Central Bank Digital Currencies End the Correspondent Banking Model?
Executive SummaryThe correspondent banking network (CBN) is being fundamentally challenged by new technologies. While fintechs are attacking its fees and SWIFT gpi is fixing its speed, a more profound, structural-level disruption is emerging: Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). A CBDC is not just a new...
04Nov
The Future of Correspondent Banking: Decline or Evolution?
Executive SummaryThe correspondent banking network (CBN) has been the backbone of international finance for over a century, a global "network of networks" that allows banks to make payments in countries where they have no physical presence. However, this model is at a critical inflection point....
04Nov