Lawrence Chan

The consensus is clear: global payment networks see collaboration, not competition, as their path to future dominance. Major networks are already building bridges – Mastercard with Ant International, Swift with blockchain layers, NGP's Nexus connecting instant payment systems worldwide. But as these technical integrations accelerate, a critical question emerges: what policy frameworks will govern this interconnected future?
 
When payment networks interoperate across borders, whose rules apply? How do regulators ensure consumer protection when a transaction touches multiple jurisdictions and networks? As networks become more interdependent, how do policymakers balance innovation with systemic risk? And perhaps most importantly – how can policy frameworks evolve to support beneficial network effects while preventing any single player from wielding excessive market power?
 
This roundtable brings together payment network leaders, financial regulators, and policy experts to explore how regulatory frameworks must adapt to govern an era of payment network collaboration. The stakes are high: get the policy right, and we unlock unprecedented efficiency and inclusion in global payments. Get it wrong, and we risk creating new systemic vulnerabilities or stifling the very innovation that promises to transform how the world moves money.

Merchants today operate in a global marketplace where customers expect seamless payment experiences across borders and currencies. Yet, fragmented payment rails and incompatible acceptance infrastructure continue to create friction, leaving merchants to navigate a maze of disconnected solutions. Achieving interoperability in cross-border merchant payments (P2M) remains elusive, as technical barriers and commercial interests perpetuate silos that undermine efficiency and trust.

While consensus exists that interoperability is desirable, the critical question is how to make interoperable P2M both commercially viable and technically sustainable across jurisdictions.

This design thinking workshop at Point Zero Forum (PZF) builds on the inaugural session at the GFTN Forum Japan, where senior stakeholders from financial services, fintechs, and policy circles convened to identify key challenges and opportunities. Preliminary recommendations from that dialogue included:

Commercial and Design Policies

·     Creating merchant-friendly universal standards for onboarding and settlement models

·      Designing incentives to encourage adoption of interoperable systems

·      Ensuring transparency of fees and predictability of settlement timelines

Technical Uplifts

·      Addressing critical risks including AML, data protection, and privacy through design architecture

·      Establishing robust API-driven technical architectures for P2M

·      Leveraging emerging technologies such as DLT to simplify and streamline cross-border transactions

At PZF, participants will revisit these foundational insights and engage in deeper exploration of the commercial and technical dimensions of interoperability. The workshop will focus on aligning standards, rethinking incentive structures, and developing top two actionable recommendations per category (commercial/technical) that move the needle on P2M interoperability. These recommendations would be further tested and finessed at the third design thinking workshop at the Singapore FinTech Festival. A proposed outcome of the workshops is a policy Insights Report to be published by GFTN.