Recent reporting indicates multiple central banks are continuing closely watched cross-border payments testing, including initiatives linked to digital currencies and new settlement rails.
Beyond the headline, what does this signal for merchants?
The updates point to broader themes already shaping payments globally:
📍Ongoing focus on faster, more efficient cross-border settlement
📍Pressure to reduce friction across FX, intermediaries, and reconciliation
📍Growing attention on transparency of total transaction cost, not just headline rates
For merchants, the practical issue is not whether a new rail is adopted tomorrow; it is that cross-border acceptance remains commercially complex today.
☑️First, speed improvements do not automatically reduce end-to-end cost.
Even where settlement becomes quicker, scheme fees, cross-border charges, FX spreads, and acquiring margins still determine the total cost of acceptance.
☑️Second, cross-border pricing is often the least visible part of the stack.
Costs can sit across FX, authorisation routing, gateway layers, settlement timing, and chargeback exposure. Without a structured review, “normal” costs can drift.
☑️Third, preparation is a governance issue, not a technology project.
Merchants with regular benchmarking, clear reporting, and disciplined contract management are better placed to benefit from change, whatever route the market takes.
Across more than 3,000 client projects, BB Merchant Services has found that cross-border cost improvements are frequently achievable through structured renegotiation and pricing review, often without changing provider.
As cross-border rails evolve, when were your international card and FX costs last reviewed against current market benchmarks?
Central banks are progressing with cross-border payments testing
