National Bank Collaborates on Nexus Project to Facilitate Cross-Border Money Transfers with Multi-Country Networks

The central banks of Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and India have signed an agreement to participate in the 4th phase of the Nexus project of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which aims to establish a central organization to promote the integration of instant payment systems in a multilateral manner. Gone are the days of hearing news about individual cross-border money transfers.
The Nexus project is about connecting international banks through messages following the ISO 20022 standard to link instant payment systems such as Thailand’s PromptPay, Singapore’s FAST, and Malaysia’s RPP. This agreement paves the way for the establishment of the Nexus Scheme Organization to oversee the interconnected system, with a dedicated team (Nexus Technical Operator) set to build and maintain the connectivity system. Subsequently, each country’s instant payment systems will link to the Nexus gateway, enabling immediate transfers between member countries, with currency conversion services available within the Nexus platform.
The goal of the Nexus money transfer system is to reduce fees significantly. Reports from the BIS refer to the G20’s goal of capping fees at a maximum of 3% of the transfer amount, with an average fee target of just 1%. These fees encompass charges from the originating bank, the domestic transfer system, Nexus fees, exchange rate markups, destination country transfer fees, and receiving bank charges.
Source: Bank of Thailand, BIS

TLDR: Central banks of five countries join Nexus project to connect instant payment systems internationally, aiming to reduce transaction fees significantly.