Payments drive the financial services industry. As the world becomes a more global marketplace, real-time cross-border payments are fast becoming table stakes for financial institutions, regulators, processors, and other third-party stakeholders.

This episode of the CUNA News Podcast, sponsored by Alacriti, examines the state of real-time cross border payments. Mark Majeske, Alacriti’s senior vice president of faster payments, says most consumers traditionally have relied on wire transfers to send money internationally.

But real-time payments are more timely, efficient, and cost effective, he says. Those are some reasons for the push by key financial system players to bring real-time payments to the cross-border transfer environment.

Majeske also explains how close we are to realizing real-time cross border payments. This includes meeting challenges such as interoperability and fraud.

One benefit fintechs such as Alacriti provide clients  is assistance with back-office and reporting requirements, enabling credit unions to offer the same payment services as larger financial institutions.

You can listen to the CUNA News Podcast in Apple’s iTunes Store, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio.

In this episode:

2:26: Mark’s background

3:33: Why cross-border payments are a hot topic

4:44: How people sent money across borders previously

6:04: The expectation for real-time cross-border payments

7:07: The interoperability question

9:59: Fraud concerns

11:25: Monetary limitations as a fraud deterrent

12:52: The role of fintechs

16:00: The opportunity to partner with fintechs