Faster Payments Council explores stablecoins for cross-border transfers

The U.S. Faster Payments Council has released a new report on how GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins could change cross-border payments. The analysis weighs faster settlement and lower costs against compliance, interoperability and regulatory hurdles.

Why it matters: - Cross-border payments still face delays, limited transparency, liquidity pressure and high costs. - The report says stablecoins could reduce those frictions if financial institutions can manage compliance and operational risk. - Faster settlement and improved transparency could affect banks, fintechs and businesses that move money across borders.

What happened: - The U.S. Faster Payments Council published a report titled Stablecoins as a Cross-Border Payment Method. - The FPC Cross-Border Payments Work Group produced the report with the FPC Digital Assets Work Group. - The report looks at GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins and compares them with traditional correspondent banking. - The report is available in the FPC's Faster Payments Knowledge Center. - More information is available at FasterPaymentsCouncil.org.

The details: - The report examines two stablecoin payment models. - One model uses direct stablecoin transfers between parties. - The other uses indirect settlement, where financial institutions or fintechs use stablecoins as a back-end settlement mechanism. - The analysis weighs operational, compliance, liquidity and regulatory considerations for implementation. - The report highlights faster settlement, reduced reliance on correspondent banking relationships, lower operational complexity and better transparency through blockchain-based transaction records as potential benefits. - The report also flags regulatory harmonization, compliance obligations, interoperability and integration with legacy systems as ongoing challenges. - Mark Majeske, SVP of Faster Payments at Alacriti and chair of the Cross-Border Payments Work Group, said the report offers a practical analysis of how stablecoins may help address cross-border payment problems while recognizing operational and regulatory realities. - Bo Berg, Technical Strategist & Innovation at Avenue B Consulting and chair of the FPC Digital Assets Work Group, said the report aims to give financial institutions a balanced view of the opportunities and implementation issues tied to stablecoin-enabled cross-border payments.

Between the lines: - The report reflects growing industry interest in stablecoins as a payments tool, not just a crypto asset. - The FPC is positioning the technology as one option in a broader search for faster, cheaper and more transparent payment rails. - The emphasis on standards and coordinated compliance suggests adoption depends as much on governance as on technology.

What's next: - The report says collaboration, standards development and coordinated compliance frameworks will matter as adoption evolves. - Reed Luhtanen, FPC executive director and CEO, said the report is meant to deepen industry understanding of how stablecoins could shape the future of cross-border payments. - The FPC says stakeholders can learn more about its work efforts or join the organization at FasterPaymentsCouncil.org.