New standardized platform connects instant payment systems of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, enabling 60-second cross-border transfers at near-domestic cost.

Project Nexus, a multilateral initiative led by the BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH) Singapore Centre, has achieved a landmark by linking the instant payment systems (IPS) of five Asian countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand—directly addressing the G20 priority of reducing cross-border payment costs for businesses. For Singapore-based trading enterprises, the platform promises to shrink settlement times from days to seconds and cut transaction costs from approximately 6.2% of value to a level approaching domestic instant payment fees, which are often near-zero.

The Genesis of Project Nexus

Project Nexus originated in 2021 when the BIS Innovation Hub Singapore Centre developed and published a blueprint for a service to connect instant payment systems across borders (Source 2). The following year, the team built a working prototype that successfully linked the test systems of three established IPS: the Eurosystem's TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS), Malaysia's Real-time Retail Payments Platform (RPP), and Singapore's Fast and Secure Transfers (FAST) system (Source 2). This proof-of-concept validated the technical feasibility of a multilateral interlinking model.

Phase 3 of the project, announced in 2024, expanded Nexus to five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand (Source 3). Participating central banks and IPS operators evaluated the model against the operational realities of their domestic systems, consulting with central banks, standard-setting bodies, and commercial banks worldwide to confirm scalability and interoperability (Source 3). The project team has since agreed to establish a managing entity—the Nexus Scheme Organisation (NSO)—which will be based in Singapore to oversee live implementation (Source 3). This institutional structure signals a permanent shift from proof-of-concept to production-grade infrastructure.

How Nexus Achieves Real-Time Settlement

The technical architecture underlying Nexus is designed for speed and simplicity. Rather than requiring each IPS operator to build custom bilateral connections for every new corridor—a costly and time-consuming approach—Nexus standardises the connection layer. Each IPS makes a single, standardised connection to the Nexus platform, and through that single integration, gains access to all other countries on the network (Source 3). This hub-and-spoke model dramatically reduces the complexity scaling cross-border payments.

The platform uses standardised application programming interfaces (APIs) and message flows to process payments end-to-end within 60 seconds, in most cases (Source 2, 5). This is comparable to domestic instant payment experiences, where funds move from sender to recipient in real time. Crucially, Nexus operates on a 24/7/365 basis, a stark departure from traditional cross-border settlement systems that rely on central banks' real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, which typically run only during business hours (Source 7). Instant payment systems domestically already process payments on this around-the-clock schedule, and Nexus extends that capability to cross-border corridors.

The underlying model supports multiple settlement arrangements. In a real-time immediate settlement model, a payment is settled by an immediate transfer of central bank money between accounts at the central bank. In deferred net settlement models, payments are recorded as obligations and netted periodically (Source 2). Regardless of the mechanism, the end-user experience is consistent: near-instant finality for the recipient.

Cost Reduction for Singapore Enterprises

For Singapore-based trading companies and businesses managing cross-border payments, the cost savings from Nexus are significant. According to a World Bank assessment referenced by the Reserve Bank of India Governor, the average cost of remitting USD 200 across borders is approximately 6.2% of the transaction value (Source 4). This premium reflects inefficiencies in correspondent banking chains, currency conversion spreads, and processing fees that accumulate across multiple intermediaries.

Domestic instant payments in countries like Singapore are often free to customers or carry only a very small fee per transaction, setting a low-cost baseline for cross-border transfers (Source 7). While cross-border payments inherently involve more costs—including foreign exchange conversion and compliance checks—linking IPS through Nexus makes it easier for banks to offer services to corridors where they have no existing presence or partnerships, reducing the need for expensive correspondent banking relationships (Source 7). Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das explicitly stated that "Project Nexus will bring down this cost" of cross-border payments (Source 4).

Cost (% of transaction value) (%)Source: Orionmano Industries

The contrast is stark: a domestic instant payment is effectively costless to the user, while a traditional cross-border remittance consumes over 6% of the value sent. Nexus aims to shift cross-border transactions far closer to the domestic end of this spectrum, unlocking material savings for Singapore enterprises that manage high volumes of intra-regional trade payments.

Strategic Implications for Regional Trade

The strategic significance of Project Nexus extends beyond immediate cost savings. The NSO will be based in Singapore to manage live implementation, positioning the city-state as a hub for regional payment interoperability (Source 3). This move aligns with Singapore's broader ambitions as a gateway for trade finance and cross-border commerce across Southeast Asia.

The initiative directly supports the G20's goals for making cross-border payments faster, cheaper, more transparent, and accessible (Source 5, 6). These goals, formalised through the Financial Stability Board and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, identify the interlinking of IPS as a priority theme for enhancing the global payments infrastructure (Source 2). Nexus provides a concrete, operational implementation of that priority.

The scalability potential is enormous. Over 70 countries now have domestic instant payment systems (Source 3), offering a large addressable network for future expansion. India—whose Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processes more than 400 million transactions per day—has already joined Nexus as a founding member (Source 4). As more countries add their IPS to the Nexus platform, the network effects will compound: each new participant makes the network more valuable for all existing members, reducing the cost and friction of cross-border payments across an expanding web of corridors.

For Singapore-based trading enterprises, the implications are clear. Faster settlement means improved working capital cycles. Lower costs enhance margin competitiveness. And a standardised, scalable platform reduces the operational burden of managing multiple bilateral payment arrangements. As Nexus moves from blueprint to live operation, Singapore stands at the centre of a transformation that promises to make cross-border instant payments the new normal for Asian trade.