Cross-border payments are a central part of global commerce. But the underlying infrastructure still faces challenges around cost, speed, access, and transparency. The average global remittance cost of 6.49% runs more than twice the 2030 goal set by the United Nations (UN): an average below 3.00%. Even with improvements such as SWIFT Global Payments Innovation (GPI), many markets aren’t on track to meet speed and cost goals.

Modern borderless payments can help close the gap between global demand and performance by rethinking how money moves between countries. They use a mix of upgraded bank payment systems, local clearing systems, card networks, digital wallets, and, in some cases, blockchain, backed by the compliance and risk controls needed to run those flows at scale.

Below, we’ll explore how these systems work, including the technologies involved, the challenges they pose, and the practical ways businesses can adopt borderless payments.

What’s in this article?

• What are borderless payments?
  
• How do borderless payment networks operate?
  
• What technologies support borderless payments?
  
• How do borderless payments reduce transaction complications?
  
• What compliance challenges affect borderless payments?
  
• How can businesses adopt borderless payment solutions?
  
• How Stripe Payments can help
  

What are borderless payments?

Borderless payments are international transactions that move money between countries without the usual delays, fees, or complications associated with traditional cross-border wire transfers. They cut out unnecessary intermediaries, route payments through faster or local payment networks, and handle currency exchanges behind the scenes.

Some payments settle instantly from a single account, while others use pooled accounts to send money locally instead of across borders. With pooled accounts, a payments provider maintains local bank accounts in both countries involved in a transaction so it doesn’t need to move funds between the countries. Either way, the result is global transactions that are faster, cheaper, and more predictable.

How do borderless payment networks operate?

Borderless payments work by linking fragmented financial systems (e.g., banks, card networks, local clearing houses, digital wallets) into coordinated flows. Instead of relying on a single global system, they route each payment based on destination, speed, and currency needs.

Here’s how it works.

Evolving infrastructure

Historically, international payments relied on correspondent banking, in which funds moved through a chain of partner banks coordinated by SWIFT messages. This model still exists, but it’s slow, expensive, and opaque. SWIFT GPI is an upgrade that adds real-time tracking, faster settlement, and upfront transparency around fees. As of September 2025, 75% of SWIFT payments settled within 10 minutes, and upcoming new SWIFT guidelines intend to make many retail cross-border payments instant and fully traceable.

Repurposed card networks

Card-based payment networks from major credit card providers repurpose global card infrastructure to move money from businesses to individuals or other businesses. In many cases, funds can be pushed directly to a recipient’s bank account or debit card, and these payments often settle in minutes.

Fintech-powered local routing

Fintech companies maintain bank accounts in multiple countries and move money across borders by routing payments through local payment networks. Funds are collected locally in the sender’s country, and equivalent funds are paid out locally in the recipient’s country. This avoids international wire transfer fees, speeds up delivery, and reduces friction from currency exchange or compliance.

Closed-loop systems

Certain digital wallets or super apps that have worldwide reach can process transactions entirely within their own networks. Using one of these platforms means funds don’t leave the system: it handles the conversion and transfer internally. This is efficient when both sender and recipient use the same wallet or app.

Blockchain-based transfers

Some businesses use stablecoins or crypto payment networks for borderless payouts. Transfers happen on decentralized networks at any time of day, often settling in seconds. This is useful for specific corridors where traditional payment networks are expensive or unavailable.

What technologies support borderless payments?

Borderless payments rely on a stack of technologies that make it possible to move money globally, quickly, and safely. Here are the core technologies powering borderless payments.

Richer data standards

Old payment messages, such as SWIFT messages, can mean shorter fields, inconsistent formats, and missing data. ISO 20022 is a new global messaging option that carries structured, detailed payment data that improves automation, reduces errors, and makes compliance checks easier. Many international banks have already migrated to ISO 20022 or are planning to do so in the near future.

Linked real-time payment networks

Instant payment systems, such as Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India or Real-Time Payments (RTP) in the US, now exist in many countries. The next step is to link them across borders, and some countries have already done this. Singapore and Thailand, for example, connected their instant payment systems for real-time cross-border transfers. More regional integrations are underway.

Cloud-based providers and open APIs

Many modern payments providers use cloud infrastructure and public application programming interfaces (APIs) to offer scalable, modular systems that connect to local payment networks, compliance tools, and foreign exchange (FX) engines. This gives developers and businesses international reach with just one integration. Using cloud-based providers and open APIs also means faster deployment and updates across regions.

AI for fraud and compliance

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are widely used for screening cross-border payments in real time. They can detect fraud patterns across countries and payment methods, run identity checks and sanctions screenings, and help providers stay compliant across jurisdictions without causing delays.

Blockchain and stablecoins

Blockchain networks can move value globally, 24/7, without relying on banks. Stablecoins—which are digital tokens pegged to specific, real-world assets—are used for business-to-business (B2B) settlement and after-hours payments. Adoption is still in its early stages, but the technical capabilities are shaping new expectations across the industry.

How do borderless payments reduce transaction complications?

Borderless systems are simplifying how funds move between currencies, networks, and countries. Here’s how.

Speed

Traditional transfers can take days, especially when routed through multiple banks across time zones. Thanks to real-time payment systems, direct local payouts, and payments providers that operate 24/7, borderless payments can settle in minutes or seconds. For example, card-based push payments and digital wallets often deliver funds instantly.

Cost

Old-school international wire transfers come with high fees. Borderless networks reduce those costs by using local clearing and cutting out middlemen. Fintechs and global APIs often show full cost details upfront, including FX rates. Many now guarantee that the recipient will receive the full amount without surprise deductions along the way.

Reliability and transparency

Modern systems can provide real-time tracking, status updates, and clear error handling. That means fewer support tickets and less time spent chasing missing funds.

Localization

Usually, borderless payments let customers pay or get paid in local currencies and via familiar payment methods, while handling conversion and routing on the backend.

What compliance challenges affect borderless payments?

Moving money across borders means navigating a landscape of global regulation. Every cross-border transaction touches multiple jurisdictions, each with its own rules around fraud, sanctions, privacy, and reporting. The goal is to stay compliant without introducing delays or complications.

Here’s what to be aware of.

KYC and AML

Global payments providers are required to verify user identities and monitor for suspicious behavior with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks. Different countries have different thresholds and documentation requirements. Screening must account for sanctions lists, politically exposed persons (PEPs), and fraud indicators, often in real time.

Licensing and regulation

Processing payments across regions often requires local licenses or partnerships with licensed entities. Payment types might be classified differently across countries (e.g., e-money in one country and money transmission in another), and some countries impose capital controls, transaction limits, or data localization requirements.

Tax and reporting

Businesses that handle cross-border payments need to understand reporting thresholds and tax obligations for themselves and their customers. Be aware of withholding rules, cross-border invoice compliance requirements, and large-transaction disclosures (e.g., over $10,000 in the US).

Speed and oversight

Real-time payments mean real-time compliance. That’s why many providers are turning to AI to screen, flag, and triage high-risk activity without holding up legitimate flows.

How can businesses adopt borderless payment solutions?

Going borderless means plugging into infrastructure that handles compliance, routing, FX, and local payout methods. Here’s how you’ll typically get started.

1. Map your cross-border needs

Identify your customers, partners, or contractors, and which currencies you need to accept, hold, or convert. Decide whether you’re collecting funds, sending payouts, or both. Having clarity around your needs helps you shape and identify the best possible solution.

2. Choose a global payments provider

Look for a payments provider that offers local payment networks in your main markets, multicurrency support, transparent fees and conversion rates, and built-in compliance and fraud tools.

3. Localize the experience

Customers expect to pay in their own currencies and with familiar methods. Payments providers such as Stripe let you offer local payment options and currency-specific pricing, which can increase trust and conversion.

4. Automate compliance

Use tools for real-time KYC, sanctions screening, and fraud prevention. If you’re operating in several markets, hold balances in multiple currencies.

How Stripe Payments can help

Stripe Payments provides a unified, global payments solution that helps any business – from scaling startups to global enterprises – accept payments online, in person and around the world.

Stripe Payments can help you:

• Optimise your checkout experience: Create a frictionless customer experience and save thousands of engineering hours with prebuilt payment UIs, access to 125+ payment methods and Link, a wallet built by Stripe.

• Expand to new markets faster: Reach customers worldwide and reduce the complexity and cost of multicurrency management with cross-border payment options, available in 195 countries across 135+ currencies.

• Unify payments in person and online: Build a unified commerce experience across online and in-person channels to personalise interactions, reward loyalty and grow revenue.

• Improve payments performance: Increase revenue with a range of customisable, easy-to-configure payment tools, including no-code fraud protection and advanced capabilities to improve authorisation rates.

• Move faster with a flexible, reliable platform for growth: Build on a platform designed to scale with you, with 99.999% historical uptime and industry-leading reliability.

Learn more about how Stripe Payments can power your online and in-person payments or get started today.