The companies will work together to enhance cross-border payments that matches the speed and efficiency of domestic payment real-time options. Credit: Pexels from Pixabay.

EBA CLEARING, SWIFT and The Clearing House (TCH) have collaborated to drive faster cross-border payments through a new initiative called Immediate Cross-Border Payments (IXB).

As part of IXB, the companies have come up with a proof of concept demonstrating the ability to synchronise settlement in one instant payment system with settlement in the other.

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This concept also substantiates the conversion of real-time messages between both systems.

It can be expanded to include more liquidity-efficient high-value payments as well as additional currencies, TCH said in a statement.

The initiative looks to enhance cross-border payments that matches the speed and efficiency of domestic payment real-time options.

EBA CLEARING, SWIFT and TCH were joined by 11 banks in the design of the IXB initiative while seven banks, including Bank of America, BBVA, Citi, HSBC, and JP Morgan, participated in the proof of concept.

The Clearing House Executive vice president for Product Development and Strategy Russ Waterhouse said: “By leveraging the RTP network in the US and RT1 in Europe, along with ISO 200022 message formats, IXB demonstrates that a faster cross-border payments capability is possible and can be delivered using existing technology.”

EBA CLEARING head of Service Development and Management Erwin Kulk added: “IXB demonstrates how the current ecosystem of cross-border payments may be enhanced and made suitable for new high-volume 24/7 business.

“In combination with an international request to pay, its potential applications would be limitless.”

SWIFT chief strategy officer David Watson commented: “Having faster payments with transparent proof of settlement is a benefit for customers and economies on both sides of the Atlantic.”

IXB is expected to boost opportunities for financial institutions and their customers globally, offering a model that can be replicated across new currency corridors and payment systems.

In July this year, SWIFT unveiled a new offering called SWIFT Go to help small businesses and consumers send low-value cross-border payments direct from their bank accounts.