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Finance

Banks may regain lead in cross-border payments on accounts, regulation and trust

An analysis says banks could regain leadership in cross-border payments, a market long led by fintech, by leveraging account infrastructure and regulatory trust. It cites reforms to the Swift payments scheme and international links between countries’ real-time payment networks as key drivers. The piece says banks’ direct control of accounts and deposits, adoption of ISO 20022 messaging and the growing remittance market may strengthen banks’ position, though smaller lenders face higher system costs.

Crypto

Five years on, was El Salvador\'s bitcoin legal tender experiment a failure?

Five years after El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender, the expected benefits such as greater financial inclusion and lower remittance costs appear limited. Studies found usage concentrated among young, urban, educated men and existing bank users, while the government’s Chivo wallet did not significantly improve access for the unbanked. Bitcoin’s remittance share fell, and policy later retreated as the country agreed to IMF support and revised its bitcoin law.

Crypto

Bank of Italy says stablecoin remittances show no consistent cost advantage

Researchers at the Bank of Italy assessed that stablecoin-based remittances did not show a consistent advantage over existing remittance channels in cost and speed. Most differences in costs and processing times stemmed from fiat currency conversion and national payment infrastructure, not blockchain fees. Tests of $200 USDC transfers across 10 two-way corridors showed costs ranging from 0.3 percent to nearly 9 percent, with settlement times varying from under 20 minutes to 1 to 2 business days.