Bank of Korea hosts 2026 payment systems conference

ASEAN Nexus project targets launch next year

Brazil's Pix eyes direct link with ECB's TIPS

Bank of England pilots 'synchronized settlement' for tokenized assets

The main and annex buildings of the Bank of Korea headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Herald DB]
The main and annex buildings of the Bank of Korea headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. [Herald DB]

Central banks around the world are accelerating efforts to link their domestic payment networks and enable real-time cross-border remittances. A six-nation remittance platform called Nexus is under construction with a target launch next year, while Brazil is exploring a direct connection between its instant payment system and Europe's.

The Bank of Korea held its 2026 Payment Systems Conference on Wednesday afternoon under the theme "Innovation in Payment and Settlement Infrastructure in the Digital Finance Era," bringing together central banks and private-sector innovators to share developments.

Andrew McCormack, chief executive of Nexus Global Payments, introduced the Nexus Project at the event. The initiative aims to improve the efficiency of cross-border payment services and is being developed across the ASEAN region, with Malaysia, Singapore, India, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia currently participating. The project is targeting operation next year.

Cross-border payment services have long been hampered by differing national regulatory requirements, foreign exchange conditions, data format incompatibilities and mismatched operating hours across payment infrastructures. McCormack said Nexus addresses these limitations by connecting each country's existing instant payment system onto a single platform and applying common technical standards and operating rules. He outlined four goals for the project: reducing fees, improving processing speed, expanding access and enhancing transparency of payment information.

International cooperation is also advancing in the area of tokenized assets. Andrei Pustelnikov, a team leader at the Bank of England, said the central bank is piloting a synchronized settlement approach for its existing payment system, with a target of full deployment by 2028. The goal is to improve the efficiency of tokenized asset transactions while maintaining financial system stability.

Synchronized settlement is a technology that links a central bank's payment system with external asset platforms so that asset transfers and cash payments are completed simultaneously on a mutually conditional basis, eliminating settlement risk.

The Bank of England is currently testing tokenized securities settlement and other applications with 18 institutions, including the London Stock Exchange. Operational and regulatory guidelines are expected to be released next year.

The Bank of England is also participating in Project Agorá, a joint initiative with the Bank of Korea and other major central banks to issue and operate tokenized reserves and commercial bank deposits on a shared cross-border payment platform.

Brazil is also pushing into cross-border connectivity. José Vicente Matos Santana, a team leader at the Banco Central do Brasil, said the central bank is exploring a direct link between Brazil's instant payment system, Pix, and the ECB's instant payment system, TIPS. If realized, the connection would enable rapid money transfers between Brazil and the euro area.

Launched by the Banco Central do Brasil in November 2020, Pix provides around-the-clock real-time transfers and small-value payment services based on real-time gross settlement. It processes customer fund transfers and interbank settlements simultaneously, eliminating credit risk. The system also supports integrated payment services for both online and offline commerce.

More than 95 percent of Brazilian adults now use Pix. Last year it accounted for 56 percent of all small-value payment transactions in the country, surpassing credit cards.

Matos Santana cited four factors behind Pix's success: broad participation by banks, fintech firms and all other payment service providers; merchant fees lower than those of card networks; simple payment using phone numbers and similar identifiers; and a no-fee policy for consumers. However, he added that rising financial fraud and cyber threats have prompted moves to introduce transaction limits, guide victims on recovering lost funds and tighten regulation of financial institutions.


kimstar@heraldcorp.com