WHAT?

Project Nexus is a multilateral initiative led by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub to create a standardized platform for connecting domestic instant payment systems (IPS) across countries, enabling seamless, instant cross-border retail payments. 
 

Launched in 2021, it addresses challenges in traditional cross-border payments, such as high costs, delays, and lack of transparency, by allowing IPS operators to make a single connection to the Nexus platform to access multiple countries' systems. 

This supports the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments and promotes financial inclusion, particularly in regions like ASEAN and India. 

Nexus operates as a "hub-and-spoke" model where domestic IPS connect to a central Nexus platform rather than directly to each other such as India’s UPI, Singapore’s PayNow, Malaysia’s DuitNow, Thailand’s PromptPay into a common network.

Objectives

1. Enabling instant cross-border payments (typically within 60 seconds) at near-zero cost while maintaining transparency and accessibility. 
2. Standardizing technical connections to reduce the need for bilateral integrations, making it scalable for global adoption. 
3. Enhancing economic integration and financial inclusion by supporting multi-currency transactions and adhering to regional regulations. 
4. Facilitating secure, efficient payments for 1.7 billion people in participating regions, with potential for worldwide expansion. 
5. Major advantages for India include faster and cheaper remittances for overseas Indians, Stronger trade links with ASEAN and other countries and easier global payments for SMEs and workers.

Participants

1. Founding Central Banks and Integrated Payment System (IPS) Operators: Reserve Bank of India (RBI with UPI), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS with FAST), Bank of Thailand (BOT). 
2. Governance Entity: Nexus Global Payments (NGP), a not-for-profit organization incorporated in Singapore in April 2025, owned by the founding central banks. 
3.  BIS provides technical advisory support but does not own or operate NGP. 
    

Benefits

1. Instant Cross-Border Payments → For example, an Indian worker in Singapore or UAE can instantly send money home via UPI.
2. Low-Cost Transactions → Saves on high fees charged by traditional SWIFT or remittance services like Western Union.
3. Financial Inclusion → Small businesses and migrant workers gain easier global payment access.
4. Trade Boost → SMEs and exporters can receive direct digital payments from international buyers.