Introduction
In November 2020, the G20 Leaders endorsed an ambitious roadmap aimed at revolutionizing cross-border payments. This initiative, known as the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments, seeks to address longstanding challenges such as high costs, slow processing times, and issues with accessibility and transparency. By 2027, the roadmap aims to make significant strides in improving the overall efficiency and reliability of these payments, benefiting individuals and businesses globally.
The G20 Roadmap: A Comprehensive Framework
The roadmap comprises 19 building blocks that encompass a variety of approaches and models. These include revising legal, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks, enhancing payment system interoperability, and standardizing cross-border data exchange and messaging protocols. To put this ambitious plan into action, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has set quantitative targets for 2027, emphasizing cheaper, faster, more transparent, and more accessible cross-border payments. These improvements are not just goals but are milestones for accountability and progress.
Source: FSB: Priority actions for achieving the G20 targets (February 2023)
Key Targets of the G20 Roadmap:
- Speed: Aiming for quicker cross-border payments to facilitate efficient transactions.
- Cost: Focusing on making these payments more affordable, thereby fostering financial inclusion and growth.
- Accessibility: Ensuring that cross-border payment services are easily accessible to a wider audience.
- Transparency: Providing clear, comprehensive information on transactions to build trust and reduce user uncertainty.
Mojaloop: A Catalyst for Change
Mojaloop is an open-source software platform designed for financial services. As a Digital Public Goods (DPG) aimed at delivering Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Mojaloop emerges as a pivotal tool in realizing the G20’s vision. Here’s how:
- Interoperability: Mojaloop’s core design principle is to enable different payment systems to connect and communicate effortlessly. This directly supports the G20’s objective of improving payment system interoperability.
- Standardization: By promoting standardized practices and technologies, Mojaloop aligns with the G20’s vision for uniformity across diverse payment systems, enhancing overall efficiency and accessibility.
- Collaboration: Mojaloop fosters a collaborative environment among various stakeholders in the financial sector. This approach mirrors the G20’s focus on collective effort and innovation to tackle the challenges of cross-border payments. This allows adopters to leverage other DPGs to address DPI gaps such as Identity (MOSIP) and AML/CFT (EKUTA)
- Scalability: The architecture of Mojaloop is designed to handle increasing transaction volumes efficiently, in particular, low-value and high-volume transactions that better serve the lower-earning sectors. This is the G20’s goal for faster and more accessible cross-border payments.
Conclusion:
Mojaloop stands out as a technological beacon in the quest to meet the G20’s targets for cross-border payments. Its commitment to interoperability, standardization, collaboration, security, and scalability makes it not just a tool but a transformative force in the world of cross-border financial transactions. As we move closer to 2027, it will be exciting to see how Mojaloop and similar innovations drive us toward a more connected and efficient global payment ecosystem.
Please look out for Mojaloop Foundation events and discussion blogs in this space in 2024.
