The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has partnered with the Bank of New York Mellon to speed up cross-border payments for Australian recipients. Through this partnership, Australian businesses and individuals receiving international payments from BNY’s clients could see their funds delivered in 60 seconds, regardless of their bank.

This new arrangement facilitates the transfer of BNY's commercial payments from overseas to Australian bank accounts within a minute, operational 24/7. The collaboration leverages Australia's New Payments Platform (NPP) and its International Payments Service (IPS), allowing CBA to process the final stage of these payments via the NPP. The system is designed to ensure transparency in costs, maintain robust security, and accelerate settlement times.

Addressing challenges in cross-border payments Cross-border payments often present challenges due to associated costs and lengthy processing times, which can slow down the movement of capital and potentially impact economic growth. The new partnership between CBA and BNY aims to address these inefficiencies by enhancing the speed and reliability of international transactions. Representatives from CBA commented on the collaboration, noting that the initiative is intended to meet the growing demand for quicker and more seamless cross-border payments.

They highlighted the role of the IPS in improving payment speed and reducing friction in transactions. Officials from BNY added that the adoption of services such as IPS in Australia is part of a broader trend towards instant cross-border payment experiences. They emphasised that the collaboration with CBA enables BNY to expand its reach in facilitating real-time, account-to-account payments globally.

Launched in 2018, the NPP was developed to support real-time payments between participating financial institutions in Australia. Recently, the platform introduced the IPS, which enhances the processing speed of the Australian dollar component of inbound cross-border payments. This development aligns with the Financial Stability Board's vision for a more interconnected global financial system.

The CBA’s implementation of IPS will also allow for flexibility in settling transactions up to mutually agreed thresholds, supporting a secure transition to near real-time settlement while managing associated risks. .