LONDON—Central banks will ask world leaders to back a “roadmap” for cutting the cost of cross-border payments, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said.
The BIS is urging G20 leaders to get behind the plan, which is being drawn up by regulators, central banks and Treasury officials from across the world and which is aimed at providing steps to improve a payments system hindered by high costs, Reuters reported.
“Political will is needed to create conditions for cheaper cross-border payments that are properly regulated at a time when international correspondent banks are pulling out from aiding such payments for local lenders,” Reuters said. “Cross-border payments, critical for some emerging economies that depend on remittances sent by migrants abroad, are hampered by low speeds, high costs and cumbersome processes.”
The roadmap will look at current costs, sticking points and risks in payments and pinpoint how the private and public sectors can tackle them, the Basel-based BIS, an umbrella group for central banks, said.