A solution for cross-border and cross-currency interoperability of instant payment systems

15 October 2025

Banca d'Italia today publishes 'A solution for cross-border and cross-currency interoperability of instant payment systems', the new issue of the series 'Markets, infrastructures, payment systems'.

Instant Payment Systems (IPSs) enable real-time settlement of transactions, providing immediate confirmation of payment status to both parties. However, these systems are predominantly tailored to domestic use and typically operate within specific jurisdictions. Consequently, their capacity to support cross-border and cross-currency transactions is limited.This paper proposes a novel approach for interconnecting IPSs to facilitate cross-border and cross-currency payments, effectively extending these functionalities as an overlay to existing domestic systems. The proposed model introduces a standardized protocol that enables the synchronous processing of instant payments across different IPSs, thereby preserving the immediacy and user experience that are typical of domestic instant payments, even in international contexts.

Crucially, the proposed interlinking model avoids relying on a centralized hub, which would require designating a central institution to build and manage shared infrastructure. Instead, we advocate using a decentralized approach which, through the adoption of a standardized protocol and the development of an adapter - or gateway - capable of translating and routing messages, allows different IPSs to interoperate directly. This decentralized approach leverages existing bilateral connections between IPSs, repurposing them to form a network of autonomous yet interoperable systems.