Information already travels instantly through email, text messages on WhatsApp and other forms of communication channels. As Fintech Ripple Labs executives have stated on numerous occasions like other financial technology industry professionals, money should be transmitted instantly as well in the Information Age. And this is actually very much a reality now in 2026. Far gone are the days when transactions took many hours or days to settle via the outdated legacy banking system.
Now, with the rise of innovative Fintechs such as Wise, Thunes, and many others, carrying out cross-border payments instantly is no longer a groundbreaking innovation. It is increasingly becoming the norm and basic expectation among consumers worldwide. If we no longer depend on the traditional postal system to send letters, then why should we resort to sending monetary transactions over traditional rails that take several business days? It makes no sense anymore.
The faster consumers and businesses get paid, the faster they can continue to grow. In addition to cross-border payments being disrupted by innovative Fintechs like Revolut and Nubank, the rise of stablecoins such as USDC and USDT is paving the way forward for more frictionless real-time transfers. Another good aspect pf stablecoins is that these transactions can be frozen in cases of non-compliance or fraudulent activities.
Regular crypto transfers with Bitcoin and Ethereum (among other virtual currencies) are permissionless and not reversible. This may seem like an empowering feature but it really isn’t in cases of fraud and other forms of abusive activities. That’s why compliant and more centralized digital currencies such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC are becoming increasingly common in digital, cross-border transfers.
In addition to being instantaneous, consumers and businesses now increasingly expect very low or almost no transaction processing fees. And large providers such as Mastercard and Visa have experienced serious issues and fines from regulators when charging (what are considered to be) very exorbitant TX fees. Moreover, the current cross-border payments landscape appears to be moving away from the control and monopoly of very large players.
For instance, countries like Pakistan do not depend on larger fintech networks for settling digital transactions. Cross-border payments can be accepted by Pakistani businesses and consumers via local fintech apps such as Easypaisa and JazzCash (among many other options). Given these Fintech trends, it should be clear that cross-border payments will increasingly become more seamless, cost-efficient, and a lot more accessible moving forward.
In the coming decade, many more consumers in developing and emerging economies across Asia and other jurisdictions should become a part of digital and formal economy. For businesses to grow in a sustainable manner, they will need access to financial services that are instant and provide settlement instantly instead of waiting on transactions to complete on multiple business days. Moving forward, digital currencies such as stablecoins are going to become a very common part of the cross-border payment stack, because they provide efficient, accessible, and faster ways to conduct global transfers.