By Sharan Kaur Phillora
As the cross-border payment arena is anticipated to touch the $250 trillion mark by 2027, the primary players, including SWIFT, Ripple (XRP), and Stellar (XLM), are dynamically evolving to meet consumer and business demands.
Here’s what we know:
SWIFT, the premier global payments network, is exploring the transformative potential of blockchain technology. In recent remarks, Tanja Haase, the driving force behind Swift Go, shed light on the outcomes of a survey taken across eight pivotal markets.
It included feedback from 4,000 consumers and SMEs, revealing that most lean towards banks for their cross-border transactions, chiefly due to the trust and security banks represent. Yet, a discernible chunk is veering towards alternatives, primarily for speed, ease of use, and transparency.
Swift Go, which began its journey with 400 banks, witnessed a remarkable surge within a year as it onboarded 200 more, with half active on the platform. Another monumental stride for SWIFT has been its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) interoperability experiment. Post a successful sandbox testing phase involving over 18 global institutions, three key central banks, including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the National Bank of Kazakhstan, are gearing up for the beta testing of SWIFT’s avant-garde CBDC solution.
But SWIFT isn’t alone in this groundbreaking journey. They’ve teamed up with Ripple and Stellar, blockchain giants renowned for expediting global transactions. Ripple’s XRP, celebrated for its speed, recently entered a pivotal partnership with Amazon, integrating XRP into the e-commerce behemoth’s payment framework, signaling a massive leap in cryptocurrency adoption.
Meanwhile, Stellar, with its distinctive interoperability, offers a unique edge. The Stellar network, through its regulated anchors, can flawlessly work alongside other blockchains and traditional financial systems, offering a versatile solution in the evolving financial landscape.
Together, these entities are steering the global payment system toward a future of efficiency, trust, and innovation.
About the author
Sharan Kaur Phillora’s thirst for knowledge has led her to study many different subjects, including NFTs and Blockchain technology – two emerging technologies that will change how we interact with each other in the future. When she isn’t exploring a new idea or concept, she enjoys reading literary masterpieces.
