High costs, slow settlement times, and complex banking networks have long hampered cross-border payments. Sending money internationally often involves multiple intermediaries, costly correspondent banks, and manual processes – meaning payments can take days to clear and incur fees of 5-7% or more. Governments and industry groups have set goals to cut remittance costs (e.g., to 3% of amounts) and accelerate timelines, but until recently, progress was slow.

Now, new collaborations between fintech innovators and traditional banks/payment networks are changing the game. With the help of modern payment platforms, APIs, and distributed ledger technology, these fintech partnerships are beginning to deliver near-real-time transfers worldwide.

Developers and financial institutions are building on fintech infrastructures and shared standards (ISO 20022, APIs, fast payment schemes) to eliminate friction. This blog explores how such collaborations – from Mastercard’s payment network integration to bank-fintech pilots – are making international payments faster, cheaper, and more transparent. We cover the enabling technologies (blockchain, instant payment platforms, digital wallets, APIs) and highlight the benefits for businesses and consumers, including lower fees, faster settlements, and broader reach.

Why Old Cross-Border Payments Are Broken

International money transfers have traditionally relied on correspondent banking networks and manual reconciliation. Each cross-border transaction might pass through two or more correspondent banks, each charging fees and causing processing delays, resulting in high costs and slow speed. Recent reports suggest that as of 2023, the global average fee for sending $200 was over 6%, far above target levels. Within some corridors (e.g., Turkey-Bulgaria,) costs can exceed 50% due to multiple intermediaries. In addition, processing times often span days rather than hours, and payment details can get lost or delayed at each step.

Businesses feel these pains too. Companies paying suppliers overseas tie up cash while waiting for slow bank transfers. They also face opaque FX spreads and little visibility on payment status. For e‑commerce and gig‑economy companies, the inability to move funds instantly across borders limits growth. Likewise, consumers remitting money abroad pay high fees and endure delays. In many developing regions, remittance inflows are a lifeline; yet inefficiencies can mean households get less support.

The market size reflects the urgency for change. In 2024, the global cross-border payments market was already on the order of hundreds of billions of dollars (estimated ~$212.5 B in cross-border payment revenues, growing to ~$320.7 B by 2030). Even more telling is the volume of underlying cross-border flows because worldwide cross-border trade and transactions totaled about $195 trillion in 2024.

With such massive flows crossing borders annually, even small efficiency gains translate to substantial cost savings. This has spurred international initiatives such as the G20/FSB Roadmap, which sets targets for faster, cheaper, and more transparent cross-border payments by 2027.

Fintech–Bank Partnerships Transforming Global Transfers

In response, banks and fintech firms are partnering to create new cross-border payment solutions. These collaborations unite the agility of fintech platforms with the reach of established networks. The result is a ready-made infrastructure for global money movement. Below are key examples of these partnerships in action:

Infosys + Mastercard Move

In August 2025, Infosys and Mastercard announced a strategic collaboration to integrate Mastercard’s Move cross-border payment network with Infosys’s Finacle core banking platform. This means any bank using Finacle can more easily access Mastercard’s global payments. Mastercard Move already covers over 200 countries and 150+ currencies, reaching about 95% of the world’s banked population.

By embedding Move into the banking system, institutions can deploy fast, secure international transfers with much less development work. The result is near-real-time, full-value payments to customers worldwide, with streamlined onboarding and compliance. Mastercard and Infosys emphasize that this partnership lets banks match fintech challengers by delivering cross-border payments “quickly and securely” while maintaining risk and cost controls.

Citi + Mastercard

In late 2024, Citibank became the first global bank to enable cross-border payments directly to Mastercard debit cards. Citi’s WorldLink network was integrated with Mastercard Move so that a corporate or individual can send funds as though there are no borders, no currencies, no constraints. The solution allows near-instant, full-value transfers to debit cards in 14 receiving countries (with plans to expand), covering over 180 countries and 150 currencies in total.

Use cases range from gig-economy payouts and insurance claims to merchant refunds. By combining Citi’s global payment rail with Mastercard’s card network, customers effectively get the ease of domestic transfers when paying overseas. This collaboration has already expanded Citi’s payout options (WorldLink now supports wire, ACH, instant payments, digital wallets, and card rails).

Standard Chartered + Dandelion Payments

In October 2025, Standard Chartered announced a partnership with fintech Dandelion to broaden its cross-border disbursements. Dandelion provides an “extensive payments infrastructure” connecting local ACH systems and major instant-payment and wallet rails worldwide. By linking Standard Chartered’s PrismFX treasury service with Dandelion’s network, clients can send foreign currency payments more efficiently into both bank accounts and digital wallets globally.

This tie-up reflects how banks are adding “mobile-first” payout channels: many emerging markets now rely more on mobile wallets than traditional banking. The partnership promises faster, cheaper transfers and greater transparency – exactly the goals highlighted by regulators and industry initiatives.

In addition to these marquee deals, many other collaborations are emerging. For instance, banks are embedding payment APIs from fintechs (like Currencycloud, Earthport/Wise, or Modulr) to automate multi-currency accounts. Banks and card networks (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal) are experimenting with blockchain and stablecoin rails. And software providers (SAP, FIS) are partnering with fintechs to offer real-time corporate payments.

Even central banks are cooperating on payments modernization. The ECB is working with partners to link Europe’s TIPS instant-payments system with India’s UPI network. All these efforts share a common theme: leveraging networks and technology to make cross-border transfers seamless and akin to domestic transfers.

Technologies Enabling Instant Global Payments

These partnerships ride on a wave of enabling technologies and new payment rails. Key innovations include:

• Distributed Ledger and Blockchain Ledgers:

Consortium blockchains are being built for cross-border payments. In 2025, SWIFT announced, with over 30 banks, the development of a shared digital ledger for international transactions. The idea is to record, sequence, and validate payments on a blockchain platform, using smart contracts to settle immediately. Because SWIFT’s existing network connects 11,000 banks in 200+ countries, adding a blockchain layer could enable 24/7 real-time settlements without sacrificing global reach.

Similarly, banks like UBS have piloted permissioned blockchain payment systems (e.g., “UBS Digital Cash”) for intra-bank and corporate transfers. These platforms let firms pre-fund and move liquidity across borders instantly, with complete visibility into balances. In practice, this means multinational clients (e.g., exporters, asset managers) can send USD, EUR, CHF, CNY, etc., on a secure ledger in seconds.

Central banks and regulators are also exploring blockchain: more than 90% of the world’s central banks are researching CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies). While CBDCs are still nascent, pilots continue (e.g., BIS Innovation Hub projects) and could one day provide super-fast, tokenized cross-border rails.

• ISO 20022 and Real-Time Payment Networks:

Legacy messaging and settlement networks are being overhauled. The global ISO 20022 standard is being widely adopted for payments, making messages richer and more interoperable. Many countries have launched high-speed “instant payment” schemes (the UK’s Faster Payments, China’s CIPS, India’s UPI, the Eurozone’s TIPS, etc.), and efforts are underway to link these systems. The ECB plans to interconnect TIPS with India’s UPI via the BIS Nexus network, enabling direct euro–rupee transfers.

Over 70 national real-time systems exist, and linking them removes the need for correspondent banks in each corridor. In practice, a person in Europe could send euros via TIPS into a UPI-linked wallet in India in real time, and vice versa – a dramatic leap from legacy wires. Meanwhile, SWIFT’s GPI (Global Payments Innovation) service and new instant rails enable banks to push payments in seconds or minutes rather than days, with end-to-end tracking.

• API Platforms and Virtual Accounts:

Open APIs and cloud banking platforms allow financial institutions to plug into fintech ecosystems. For instance, banks can use virtual accounts in foreign jurisdictions to simulate local payments. A U.S. importer might open a virtual rupiah account with an Indonesian partner bank; when they pay into that account, the funds clear instantly in Indonesia. APIs also enable real-time FX quotes and instant execution.

Fintech banking cores (such as Infosys Finacle or Temenos Transact) often include prebuilt connectors to global networks (such as Mastercard Move or SWIFT). This composable architecture means banks don’t have to build custom integrations. At the same time, embedded fintech tools (payment gateways, ERP integrations) let businesses automate B2B cross-border transactions through a single interface.

• Stablecoins and Cross-Border Tokens:

Digital stablecoins – crypto assets pegged to fiat – are increasingly viewed as a way to accelerate remittances. Although still emerging, stablecoins can settle globally in minutes when on public blockchains. Partnerships are forming around regulated stablecoin networks. Visa and some banks have piloted USD-backed stablecoins to facilitate international fund transfers.

In the future, one can imagine corporate treasuries or payment providers issuing a stablecoin on a blockchain, settling cross-border instantly, and then redeeming it into local currency on the other side. (Citi and other banks have noted that as much as $425 billion in payments per month might flow through stablecoins if integration ramps up.)

Regulatory guardrails remain (to address fraud, AML), but stablecoins are increasingly mainstream: one report forecasts $4 trillion in stablecoins by 2030. Over time, they may be integrated into traditional systems as an additional corridor, particularly where no domestic fast rail exists.

Together, these technologies form a modern cross-border stack: universal messaging standards, real-time clearing systems, global money movement networks, and new rails like DLT and tokenized money. Fintech partnerships essentially connect the dots. A bank can tap an API that routes payment via SWIFT GPI or blockchain, or embed a fintech’s service that executes FX instantly.

Real-World Impact: Faster Payments, Lower Costs

These innovations bring tangible benefits for businesses and end users. Compared to the old multi-day wires, modern cross-border solutions offer:

1. Near-Real-Time Settlement:

Recipients can receive funds in minutes or even seconds, rather than days. For example, bank clients on the Infosys–Mastercard platform can send near-instant cross-border transfers because the integration supports real-time messaging. Similarly, Citi and Mastercard’s joint solution allows 24/7 availability, so payments clear virtually immediately in the cardholder’s account.

For businesses, this means improved cash flow and liquidity. An importer paying a supplier overseas no longer has to wait 2–3 days for funds to clear; they can synchronize payments with the goods shipment, reducing currency risk.

2. Lower Fees and FX Costs:

By collapsing multiple correspondent steps into a single API or network call, providers pass on lower fees. Alternative cross-border services (such as fintech remittance apps) already charge fractions of traditional fees by leveraging pooled liquidity and efficient rails. New bank-fintech networks aim to do the same at scale.

Because transfers happen faster and with transparency, banks can more easily justify smaller FX spreads. Industry studies show that as new rail links connect countries, average remittance costs (now ~6%) can fall toward G20 targets (~3%). In some corridors, fees are already plummeting. For example, linking digital rails may eliminate the need for a Middle Eastern or European correspondent bank, saving 1–2% on transfer costs.

3. Enhanced Transparency and Tracking:

Corporate users gain complete visibility into payment status and fees. Unlike old wires, where a payment’s progress is opaque, modern networks can track each hop. Systems like SWIFT GPI and Mastercard Move report confirmations back to the sender as funds move. This transparency reduces disputes and compliance overhead. Consumers also benefit: a person sending money to family abroad can see precisely how much will be credited, avoiding hidden charges. In essence, end-to-end visibility removes uncertainty around delivery times and fees.

Broader Access (Wallets and Smaller Currencies): Many modern solutions expand reach beyond traditional bank accounts. The Standard Chartered–Dandelion partnership explicitly extends to digital wallets and local payment apps. This means a business in the U.S. could pay workers in India directly into their UPI-linked wallets, even if the sender or receiver has no local bank account.

Smaller currencies and emerging markets gain easier access to. Historically, a bank in Africa might not support direct transfers to remote nations; through a global network partner, it can now pay into local banks or wallets across Asia or Latin America. Greater inclusion helps migrant workers and small exporters who previously were underserved.

4. Compliance and Security Improvements:

Although faster systems might sound riskier, fintech partnerships can actually strengthen compliance. Automated rails can incorporate KYC/AML checks instantly and enforce sanctions screening in real time. Many digital networks use cryptographic proofs and audit logs (especially on blockchain), so transactions are secure and traceable. Banks also maintain control; for example, Mastercard’s solution enables them to enhance control over risk, operations, costs, and liquidity even as they speed up payments. Thus, regulators and institutions can meet both the demand for speed and the requirement for oversight.

For business executives and developers, these changes mean new business models and capabilities. A software provider can embed cross-border payments into its platform via APIs, enabling customers to complete instant multi-currency checkout. A multinational can concentrate cash in a few clearing accounts and distribute it globally on demand, rather than maintaining large balances with many correspondent banks.

Financial institutions that adopt these partnerships can capture the previously hard-to-reach “low-value, high-volume” segment of cross-border pay (the retail remittance market) that fintech challengers had taken. In short, the ecosystem becomes more efficient, resulting in cost savings that can be passed on to clients.

What This Means for a U.S. Exporter

Imagine a U.S. manufacturing company that sells machinery to clients in India, Brazil, and Europe. Under the old model, they would send invoices in different currencies, wire funds through a domestic bank’s correspondent network, and wait days for payments to arrive (paying hefty fees). With the innovations described:

• Faster Receipts: The U.S. exporter can instruct its bank (using, say, Mastercard Move via Finacle) to pay its Indian customer in rupees. Instead of a three-day SWIFT wire, the transfer might arrive in minutes via the linked UPI/TIPS rails. Similarly, payments to Brazil could be routed through a stablecoin corridor or a local instant payment system, reducing settlement time to hours.
• Lower Fees: By using the Mastercard network or another integrated platform, the exporter avoids middlemen. They pay a simple network fee (often <1%), rather than a chain of correspondent fees. Over hundreds of transactions, this slashes annual costs.
• Real-Time Tracking: The exporter sees each payment’s status in real time. If a payment stalls or is rejected, they know the reason at once. This certainty allows tighter treasury forecasting and reduces finance disputes.
• Multiple Channels: The exporter can offer customers a choice of channels. A Brazilian client might prefer receiving funds via PIX (Brazil’s instant-pay system) if the bank supports it. A European client could accept a euro transfer into a digital wallet (like Revolut or Wise). The exporter’s billing software, integrated via API, handles all this behind the scenes.

Overall, cross-border trade becomes as seamless as domestic transactions. Such advantages are not theoretical: many companies report dramatically improved cash flow and customer satisfaction when switching to modern payment rails.

Future Outlook

The trend toward global instant payments is still accelerating. International bodies and central banks remain committed to modernization: projects like the G20’s roadmap and the BIS Nexus initiative aim to link more real-time systems and currencies.

On the private side, we expect more fintech-bank partnerships and platform alliances. Large banks may integrate with multiple rails (card networks, blockchains, local instant systems) to cover every region. Fintech firms will continue expanding their networks (e.g. currency networks, wallet networks). With increasing regulatory clarity on digital assets, stablecoins or CBDCs could become mainstream options for cross-border settlement.

However, challenges remain: harmonizing regulations across jurisdictions, ensuring cybersecurity, and achieving widespread adoption. Legacy banks must update their core systems (often a multiyear effort) to fully leverage these innovations. Cultural and contractual changes are needed too, as banks move from cautious correspondent models to open digital ecosystems.

Despite these hurdles, the trajectory is clear. By 2026–2027, many corridors that were days apart will become near-instant. Fees are likely to continue trending downward as competition increases. For end users – small businesses, expatriates, multinational corporations – the experience of sending money abroad will increasingly resemble local transfers: quick, low-cost, and reliable.

Conclusion

Fintech partnerships are driving a revolution in cross-border payments. By combining the technological agility of fintechs with the scale of banks and card networks, these collaborations are tearing down old barriers. From Infosys–Mastercard enabling 200-country, 150-currency transfers to central banks linking Asia and Europe for instant settlement, the landscape is changing fast.

The result for businesses and consumers is profound: more accessible global commerce, greater financial inclusion, and the promise that tomorrow’s cross-border payment will be seamless, fast, and inexpensive.

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