The next battleground in global payments may be the small, frequent transfers that move across borders every day: from gig-worker payouts to marketplace vendor payments and remittances.
Bank of America plans to launch a cross-border real-time payments solution next quarter, allowing corporate, commercial and financial institution clients to send and receive funds instantly through Swift or the bank’s CashPro digital platform.
The service targets high-volume, low-value international payments, a segment expected to grow sharply as P2P and B2C payment flows rise 58% and 131%, respectively, by 2032.
The offering will connect to real-time payment networks including SPEI in Mexico, the Faster Payments Service in the UK, and Unified Payments Interface in India.
Clients will also be able to receive inbound real-time payments into the US, according to an announcement.
Bank of America said the service will offer real-time payment tracking, full-principal preservation, lower costs, pre-validation of recipient account information and payments that are typically delivered within seconds or minutes.
Mark Monaco, head of Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, said the capability supports the G20 cross-border payment objectives while giving clients a scalable way to move money globally “without adding operational complexity.”
Clients can access the service via Swift or existing CashPro connectivity, including APIs and host-to-host channels, reducing the need for new technology investments.
Bank of America processes more than $450 trillion in payments annually and invests about $1 billion each year in payments technology, according to the release.