FSB Introduces Jurisdiction Action Plans at Third Payments Summit, Shifting Cross-Border Programme to National Implementation

The Financial Stability Board held its third Payments Summit on March 12, 2026, at the Bank of England. This was the first time the summit has convened in person. FSB Chair and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey used his keynote address to announce Jurisdiction Action Plans - a new mechanism that will require each FSB member jurisdiction to identify practical steps for enhancing domestic payment systems to improve cross-border payment flows.

Jurisdiction Action Plans

The introduction of Jurisdiction Action Plans represents a structural shift in the G20 cross-border payments programme. Since the FSB published its original roadmap in 2020, the approach has centred on setting global quantitative targets. The new mechanism moves accountability to the national level, with each jurisdiction expected to map out specific actions to improve their domestic systems for cross-border interoperability.

The FSB will ask its members to develop these plans as part of a new public-private partnership model for the programme's next implementation phase.

Progress and Remaining Gaps

The FSB disclosed that approximately 75% of cross-border payments now reach beneficiary banks within 10 minutes. While this marks progress, the G20's 2027 targets remain at risk. Those targets call for a maximum cost of 1% for retail cross-border payments and for 75% of payments to be credited within one hour.

The FSB's previous assessment, published in 2025, had already flagged that meeting the 2027 targets was unlikely. The Jurisdiction Action Plans are designed to address this implementation gap by shifting responsibility to national authorities.

SWIFT Retail Payments Framework

At the summit, SWIFT announced that banks will launch its new retail payments framework by June 2026. This framework is intended to support faster, more transparent cross-border retail payment flows through the SWIFT network.

What This Means

The shift from centralised targets to jurisdiction-level action plans changes the dynamics of the G20 cross-border payments programme. Rather than measuring progress against aggregate global benchmarks, the FSB will now track whether individual jurisdictions are making concrete changes to their domestic payment infrastructure. For payment system operators and participants, this may translate into specific regulatory or technical requirements at the national level.