The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub is driving a multi-party project called ‘Project Nexus,’ aimed at supporting the G20’s goals of improving cross-border payments' cost, speed, access, and transparency. The project has now completed its technical proof-of-concept phase, which involved three central banks, and is set to move on to the next stage.

The primary objective of Project Nexus is to build a global retail payments network on top of existing instant payments systems (IPS) managed by central banks, allowing small-value payments to cross borders in less than 60 seconds.

According to the report, Nexus is intended to standardize the way these systems communicate with one another. Instead of establishing custom connections for each new nation to which a payment system operator connects, a single connection to the Nexus platform would allow a fast payment system to access all countries in the network.

The Nexus concept is the first multilateral network of its kind connecting multiple domestic instant payment systems. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand have planned to connect their domestic IPS through Nexus.

The new approach will increase payment efficiency while also fostering ASEAN's economic expansion. Businesses can quickly and conveniently transfer, receive, and manage payments by cutting out the middlemen and saving expenses.

Faster fund flows and more effective operations will follow, enabling businesses to focus on giving customers better goods and services. In addition, by making it simpler for those who have historically been underserved or unbanked to access financial services, this new system will help expand financial inclusion.