Project Nexus Finalizes Blueprint for Global Instant Payment System Integration, Moves Towards Live Implementation

Project Nexus, an initiative by the BIS Innovation Hub, aims to improve cross-border payments by linking various domestic instant payment systems (IPS) worldwide.

This is the first project from the BIS Innovation Hub in the payments sector to progress towards live implementation. BIS will provide advisory support as Project Nexus establishes its operational framework and invites new participants globally.

BIS will assist central banks and IPS operators from India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand as they work towards live implementation in the next phase, with the Bank of Indonesia participating as a special observer.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and its partners have announced the completion of the detailed blueprint for phase three of Project Nexus. This blueprint will enable ready participants to move forward in seamlessly connecting their instant payment systems.

In phase four, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Bank of Thailand, and domestic IPS operators—who collaborated in phase three—will be joined by the Reserve Bank of India. This will expand the user base to include India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the world’s largest IPS.

Bank Indonesia will continue its involvement in the project as a special observer. Having participated in phase three, it will maintain this role in the next stage of development.

Nexus aims to standardize the way domestic IPS connect with each other. Instead of each IPS operator creating custom connections for every new country, they only need to connect once to Nexus. This single connection will allow the IPS to reach all other countries in the network.

We wish our partners in Nexus every success as they transition the project from concept to reality. This is the first BIS Innovation Hub project where central banks are moving towards a live phase alongside instant payment providers. Once implemented, it will significantly improve cross-border payments, aligning with the G20 cross-border payments program and our mission to develop public goods in the technology space to support central banks and enhance the financial system.

Even with just the initial group of connected countries, Nexus has the potential to connect a market of 1.7 billion people globally, enabling them to make instant payments to each other easily and affordably, said Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS.

The findings and lessons from phase three of Nexus are detailed in a report published today. This is supplemented by a comprehensive scheme rulebook, technical implementation guides, and ISO 20022 message specifications, available to central banks upon request.

To facilitate live implementation, the partner central banks and IPS operators have agreed to establish a new entity, the Nexus Scheme Organisation (NSO). The NSO will manage the Nexus scheme and continue the mission to achieve large-scale instant cross-border payments.

The NSO will be entirely owned by the central banks and/or IPS in participating countries, depending on their specific domestic structures. In developing the blueprint in phase three of Nexus, the BIS has fulfilled its role of supporting central banks in finding innovative solutions to deliver public goods, aligning with one of its key commitments as part of the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments.

While the BIS will not own or operate the NSO, it will continue to support the project by providing technical advice as participating countries work towards making Nexus live. It will also facilitate cooperation among members and the entry of new participants, helping to achieve Nexus’s global goals.

Notes to Editors

This work follows an earlier development phase where a prototype of Nexus successfully connected the test versions 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) payment system. (Details of this work are described in Annex 1 of the new report.)

In November 2022, Bank Indonesia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the MAS, and the Bank of Thailand signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Regional Payment Connectivity. This MoU highlights the collaborative effort within the region towards establishing cross-border payment connectivity, including fast payment linkages. Since the MoU signing, Brunei Darussalam Central Bank, Bank of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and the State Bank of Vietnam have joined the initiative.

The BIS Innovation Hub started the project in 2022, and its Singapore Centre has worked with current partners over the past year to develop a comprehensive scheme and governance framework, commercial model, and technology blueprint.

Central banks, standard-setting bodies, IPS operators, and commercial entities worldwide were also consulted to ensure that Nexus is scalable and interoperable beyond the current participants. Nexus is one of many exploratory projects undertaken by the BIS Innovation Hub. It also contributes to the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, highlighting the interlinking of IPS as a key goal and Nexus as a priority action that could significantly impact the speed, cost, transparency, and access to cross-border payments.