The Future of Cross-Border Payments: Fear, Friction—and What Comes Next

At this year’s PAY360 conference, leaders from across the financial ecosystem sat down for a frank conversation about the future of payments. Hosted by The Payments Association, the panel brought together voices from the cross-border ecosystem including Adam Bealey from SWIFT, Saif Malik from Standard Chartered, Ian Povey from NatWest and our own CEO Gary Palmer, who offered a fresh lens on the outdated models still shaping global money movement.

The discussion covered macro trends, regulatory shifts, the rise of AI, and the expanding role of big tech in financial services. But at the heart of it all was one shared theme: cross-border payments need to change—and fast.

Here are three takeaways from the session that matter for financial institutions ready to move beyond legacy rails and unlock new revenue:

1. The Correspondent Banking Model Is Breaking

For decades, even the world’s top 10 banks have relied on a fragile correspondent banking system to move money internationally. But the model is shrinking—25% of correspondent banks have exited over the last decade—driven by what Gary called “fear and friction.”

The fear comes from the inability to manage counterparty risk effectively. The friction comes from outdated, manual processes that introduce delay, compliance gaps, and customer frustration. Most banks lack the software to safely onboard, manage, and monitor other financial institutions—so they just opt out.

Payall solves this. Our platform digitizes and automates institution onboarding, compliance, and risk orchestration—restoring trust and enabling more institutions to re-enter the correspondent model, safely.

2. The Future Is Choice: More Partners, More Rails, More Reach

While the legacy model fades, new options are rising. With Mastercard Move even small banks and EMIs can now reach 95% of the world’s population without relying on a traditional correspondent bank. This is a profound shift in global access. For the first time, smaller institutions can compete at scale, tapping into multi-rail delivery—including bank accounts, mobile money, digital wallets, and cash payout—without building their own international networks.

3. Use Cases Matter More Than Ever

Financial institutions must stop treating cross-border payments as a one-size-fits-all product. Treasury payments, remittances, supplier payments, and tax disbursements all come with different user expectations, compliance requirements, and payout preferences.

“You can't just wire money to a bank account and assume that works for everyone. In many markets, people prefer mobile wallets, cash pickup, or other disbursement methods. Financial institutions need to deliver on those expectations.”

Watch the full PAY360 panel discussion now:

Get Ahead of the Curve

Cross-border payments are undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation. Whether you’re a large bank seeking to reduce counterparty risk, or an EMI looking to scale globally without correspondent banks, the message is clear: there’s a new way to move money internationally.

Payall makes it simple to:

💬 Want to simplify your cross-border business—and make more money doing it? Email us at sales@payallps.com