Bank of America to Debut X-Border Real-Time Payments Tool

Bank of America plans to launch a new cross-border real-time payments tool later this year, according to a Thursday (June 4) press release provided to PYMNTS.

The solution, which will roll out in the third quarter, will let corporate, commercial and financial institution clients send and receive money instantly through SWIFT or Bank of America’s CashPro platform, the release said.

“Around the world, policymakers and financial institutions share a common goal: making cross-border payments faster, more transparent, more affordable and more accessible,” Mark Monaco, head of global payments solutions at Bank of America, said in the release. “This new capability directly supports the G20 payment objectives while giving our clients a scalable, reliable way to move money globally—without adding operational complexity.”

The new solution is designed to address increasing demand for speed and transparency in global payments. It will support international remittances, gig worker payouts, eCommerce marketplace vendor payments and more, according to the release.

These person-to-person and business-to-consumer transactions are expected to increase by 58% and 131%, respectively, by 2032, per the release. The new solution will connect to several real-time payment networks, including SPEI in Mexico, the Faster Payment System in the United Kingdom and India’s Unified Payments Interface.

“Clients will also be able to receive inbound real-time payments into the United States, where Bank of America serves approximately 70 million consumer and small business clients,” the release said. “Funds will be delivered to beneficiaries in local currency, supporting improved certainty and usability.”

Meanwhile, the PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Cross-Border Opportunity: What Global Sourcing by US SMBs Means for Payment Providers” found that 57% of U.S. small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) buy goods or inputs from overseas suppliers.

“Among firms engaged in international sourcing, 43% identified faster payment processing and settlement as their top priority, while 27% expressed interest in changing cross-border payment providers,” PYMNTS reported Friday (May 29).

The research also found that 63% of internationally active SMBs pay overseas suppliers primarily in U.S. dollars, while FinTechs had the highest customer satisfaction ratings among non-cryptocurrency providers.

“Those trends arrive as the broader payments industry is examining a future in which settlement itself becomes increasingly standardized,” the report said.