BNY and CBA Launch Cross-Border Payments Partnership

Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) launched a cross-border payments partnership.

The collaboration lets businesses and individuals who receive international payments from BNY customers get paid in as little as 60 seconds, no matter who they bank with, according to a Thursday (Aug. 22) press release.

“Through the new arrangement, BNY commercial payments from overseas to businesses and individuals with Australian bank accounts will now be available to the final beneficiary in under a minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the release said.

The partnership uses Australia’s New Payments Platform (NPP) International Payments Service (IPS), allowing the last mile of BNY’s cross-border payments to Australia to be processed by CBA.

“Making and receiving cross-border payments can be challenging for customers due to the cost and processing times,” the release said. “Inefficient payment processes also have the potential to hinder economic growth by impeding the flow of capital across borders.”

PYMNTS examined the Australian payments landscape earlier this year in a conversation with Juan Franco, senior vice president of eCommerce for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region at Nuvei, who noted the country has been at the forefront of payments innovation.

The country’s eCommerce market is notable in the APAC region for its maturity, substantial market size, and early adoption of payment methods such as buy now, pay later (BNPL).

For eCommerce merchants looking to break into the market, Franco underlined the importance of acknowledging its distinctive payments landscape, which includes BNPL along with traditional card payments, electronic fund transfer (EFT) payments, and a range of digital wallets.

An early adopter of contactless payments, Australia has also joined the faster payments trend, debuting the NPP in 2018 to let consumers and businesses make near real-time payments.

However, Franco said the speed and adoption of instant payments in Australia will differ from the growth witnessed in countries like Brazil and India, where the Pix and UPI payment systems have opened instant payments for large swaths of unbanked populations previously blocked from electronic transactions.